Colorful Vegetable Couscous (Vegan)

On Saturday I went to the farmers market and found this wonderful purple cauliflower at my favorite organic market stand. Instant buy.

 

 

Inspired by the beautiful purple, I wanted to make something really colorful, so I decided to make a vegetable couscous. Next to the purple cauliflower I used a vibrant red pepper and carrot. And to add even more color and make it look like a confetti party I also added roasted sunflower seeds, pistachios, cranberries and coriander. It turned out so beautiful and appetizing!

 

 

The roasted veggies are flavorful by themselves but I recommend to eat this couscous with some mango chutney. With its a spicy sweetness it adds a great extra flavor.

 

 

 

Colorful Vegetable Couscous

Makes 4 portions

 

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion (halved and sliced)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 (purple) cauliflower (cut in pieces)
• 1 sweet red pepper (halved and cut in thin slices)
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1-2 tsp sambal oelek (or more if you like it hot)
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1/2 lemon
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp pistachios (slightly chopped)
• 1/2 bunch of coriander (chopped)
• 2-3 tbsp cranberries
• Mango Chutney

Heat up the olive oil in a large pan and add onion. Turn to medium heat and let cook for about 2 minutes. Now add the garlic and cumin and let cook for another 1-2 minutes until onions are starting to soften. Now turn up the heat a bit and add the vegetables. Grill them for about 10-15 minutes while stirring.

 

Add the vegetable stock after some minutes so they don’t burn. Make sure not to overcook though, so that the veggies keep a slight crunch. Meanwhile, prepare the couscous by placing it in a flat bowl and adding salt and about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Now pour hot water over the couscous until it is slightly covered by the water. Let sit under a lid until all the water is soaked up.

 

Flavor the vegetables with sambal oelek, salt and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Roast sunflower seeds and pistachios for a couple of minutes in a small pan until golden brown.

 

To serve, pour the couscous and the vegetables on a big plate and sprinkle sunflower seeds, pistachios, cranberries and coriander over the dish.  Serve with mango chutney.

 

 

 

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