Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas

 

As we established last week, I love fall. And another reason why I’m a big fan is because I can start roasting things again. My house is um… cozy {read: small} and anytime I have the oven on higher the 400 degrees you can feel it throughout the whole house. Not a great idea when I’m already melting in the swampy DC summers but perfectly acceptable when the weather turns cooler.

One of my favorite things to roast is carrots. They turn incredibly sweet, soft and crunchy – so delicious. When I saw this recipe by Martha Stewart, I knew I had to make it and it didn’t disappoint. Because my family isn’t a huge fan of couscous, I made the whole batch on Sunday and had it for lunch the rest of the week. I think it got better on the second day because the couscous absorbed the lemon vinaigrette. You can get your free printable recipe card here or scroll down to see the recipe. Enjoy!

Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas {adapted from Martha Stewart}

Ingredients

1 pound carrots, sliced ¾ inch thick on the diagonal
1 head cauliflower (about 3lbs), cored and cut into florets
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder (original recipe calls for cumin but I’m not a fan)
Coarse salt and pepper
1 cup couscous (original recipe calls for whole-wheat couscous)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 scallions, thinly sliced
5 ounces baby arugula

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place carrots and cauliflower on two rimmed backing sheet; toss each pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and ¾ teaspoons of chili powder. Roast until browned and tender, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets and tossing halfway through. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 1 ¼ cups salted water to a boil. Stir in couscous; cover and remove from heat. Let stand until tender, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; set aside to cool, uncovered.

Make dressing: In  a small bowl, whisk together lemon zest and juice and remaining tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine roasted vegetables with couscous, chickpeas, and scallions. Place arugula on a serving platter, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon dressing (I omitted this step since I planned on eating this throughout the week and didn’t want the arugula to wilt too much). Add remaining dressing to couscous mixture, and toss; serve over arugula.

 

 

 

 

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