Grilled Vegetable Couscous

It really seems like I'm obsessessed with Jamie Oliver these days. I've cooked from his cookbook Jamie at Home and also gone through Cooking with Jamie. I watched the first episode of his new show Jamie's Ministry of Food last night. I also made one of the first Jamie Oliver recipes I ever made, from The Naked Chef, couscous with grilled vegetables. I was unable to find his recipe online but I remember the ingredients and that's all I need!

I love couscous, and that was even before I went to Morocco. I don't even remember the first time I ate it. It takes minutes to make and it's so versatile. On a three day tour in the Atlas mountain range in Morocco, we ate couscous and tagine at every meal. While other tourists (mainly Belgian) complained about the repetitiveness, my friend MC and I enjoyed every bite of it!

This recipe is perfect for summer because it's loaded with vegetables and it's very light. It would be a perfect accompaniment to BBQ meat!

Grilled Vegetable Couscous - Serves 2
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef.

This is really just a guideline as you can add whatever you prefer.

* ½ cup couscous

* 1 green onion, chopped thinly

* ½ cup + a few tablespoons of vegetable or chicken broth

* 1 roasted red pepper, chopped small

* 1 small zucchini, grilled and chopped small

* ½ a bunch of aspargus, grilled and chopped

* a handful of olives, chopped

* feta cheese

* herbs of your choice, chopped small

* juice of 1 lemon

* extra virgin olive oil

* salt and pepper, to taste

For the couscous, place the couscous and green onion in a bowl.

Bring the broth of your choice to a boil.

Slowly add a portion of the hot broth to the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Add some more as required, a bit at a time. Covering the couscous also helps allow the heat to remain and the couscous to absorb the broth.

Couscous: before and after.

Add the roasted red peppers, grilled zucchini and asparagus, olives, feta and herbs, to the couscous and mix in.
Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and oregano, with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Dress the couscous with the lemon dressing.
Tada!

Jamie Oliver stopped at the vegetables!


I "Greeked" it up with some olives, feta and oregano!