Spiced Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Spiced Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables is a wonderful Moroccan-inspired dish that makes a healthy, delicious lunch, or can be served as a side to fish or meat. Or eat as one of several small plates, mezze style.
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I’ve eaten a fair few couscous dishes in my time. But this Spiced Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables has to be my favourite. There’s just so many good things in it, all flavoured with a homemade Moroccan-inspired spice mix.
- The base is subtly spiced fluffy couscous with plump dried apricots and raisins.
- Vegetables roasted to intensify their flavour.
- Nutty chickpeas for protein.
- Crunchy toasted pine nuts.
- Zing from fresh lemon juice and mint.
- A warmly spicy, lightly sweet dressing to bring it all together.
Really easy to make, the salad will keep in the fridge for up to three days.
I love it on its own for lunch, sometimes with a blob of yogurt plus chopped fresh tomatoes and cucumber. But it’s great as a side too: spiced fish or chicken kebabs are favourites in my house. It would also be perfect for a meal of different little plates to share, mezze-style.
MOROCCAN-INSPIRED SPICE
What gives my Spiced Couscous Salad its distinctive, warmly spicy flavour is a homemade Moroccan-inspired spice mix. I use variations on the same simple blend in numerous dishes, including Moroccan Lamb Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce, Chicken with Olives, Lemon & Chickpeas, and Moroccan Spiced Baked Stuffed Squash.
For my couscous salad, I use the spice mix at different stages to build wonderful flavour.
- Sprinkled over the vegetables before roasting.
- Mixed into the couscous as it soaks.
- Stirred into the dressing that will cloak everything.
You make the spice mix first by simply stirring the spices together in a bowl or shake in a screw-topped jar.
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- chilli flakes as much or as little as you like, hot or mild.
Because the mix has so many uses, I make more than I need and store in a jar. It’s perfect for seasoning chicken, fish or lamb, soups, stews, dressings, and almost anything that benefits from a warmly spicy flavour.
HOW TO MAKE SPICED COUSCOUS SALAD
You’ll find ingredient amounts and full instructions in the recipe card at the end. But I recommend you read the whole of this post first for extra tips and step-by-step images to guide you.
If you’re good at multi-tasking, my Spiced Couscous Salad shouldn’t take very long at all. The simple steps are:
- Make the spice mix.
- Prep, season and roast the vegetables. Add the chickpeas for the final few minutes of cooking. While they’re in the oven, complete the next 2 steps.
- Season and soak the couscous with the apricots and raisins.
- Make the dressing.
- Combine the vegetables, chickpeas, couscous and dressing. Set aside until the vegetables are cool.
- Stir in the toasted pine nuts and fresh mint.
ROASTING THE VEGETABLES
Almost any vegetables can be roasted for Spiced Couscous Salad. Here I’ve used sweet potato, red pepper, courgette, and onion. When dicing the veg, cut those which take longer to cook (e.g. sweet potato) slighter smaller than those that cook quicker (e.g. courgette). That way, they should be done at roughly the same time. Drizzle some olive oil over the veg, then season with salt and pepper plus as much of the spice mix as you want. Roughly 2 rounded teaspoons is about right for my taste.
Pop them on a tray and into the oven preheated to the temperature shown in the recipe card. It should take around 15 minutes for the vegetables to start softening and charring a little. After 15 minutes, turn the temperature up as per the recipe card and stir the chickpeas into the now spicy oil. Cook for another 5 minutes or until done to your liking.
FLUFFY COUSCOUS
While I used to favour bulgur wheat over couscous, since I discovered wholewheat couscous I’m a convert. With a little more fibre than regular couscous, it may keep you fuller for longer but still only needs 4 – 5 minutes soaking in boiling water. I can get it at my local supermarket, although you can buy it online if necessary. But if you only have regular couscous then my Spiced Couscous Salad will still be great.
All you do is put the couscous into a heatproof bowl along with the raisins, chopped dried apricots, a pinch of salt, and a rounded teaspoon of spice mix. Give it a stir then pour in boiling water from a kettle. The usual ratio is double the weight of water to couscous e.g. for 120 grams of couscous add 240 grams (or millilitres) of water. Due to the dried fruit here, I increase the water to 250 g/ml.
Stir again and set aside until all the water is absorbed. Now fluff up with a fork then transfer to a serving bowl.
SWEET & SPICY DRESSING
The spice mix really comes into its own as part of the lovely dressing for the couscous salad. I love the combination of sweet and spicy with tangy and umami notes too.
Simply whisk together the ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Chopped garlic
- Tomato puree
- Spice mix
- Honey or another sweetener
- Salt and Pepper
Everyone will have their own idea of the right balance of sweet, salty, spicy, tangy etc. So use the ingredient amounts shown in the recipe card as a guide. Keep tasting and tweak to make the dressing perfect for you.
ASSEMBLING SPICED COUSCOUS SALAD WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES
Now you have all the elements prepared, you can assemble the salad. Tip the still-warm roasted vegetables, chickpeas, and their cooking juices into the bowl of couscous and toss well to combine. Pour over the dressing, toss again, then set aside until the vegetables are cool. If the room is warm, or if you plan to eat later, do this in the fridge.
When ready to serve taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, spice, lemon etc. if needed. Finally, toss the toasted pine nuts and chopped or shredded mint through the salad.
Your Spiced Couscous Salad with roasted vegetables and chickpeas is now ready to eat. But in an airtight container it will keep in the fridge for up to three days. Bring it back to room temperature before eating for the best flavour.
HEALTHY, EASY & DELICIOUS SPICED COUSCOUS SALAD
My Spiced Couscous Salad might not be the only one in town. But to me, it’s up there with the best! As well as fluffy couscous and dried fruit, there’s a generous amount of vegetables, roasted to intensify their flavour, plus nutty chickpeas and crunchy pine nuts. Add to that my bespoke spice mix, a perky, lightly sweet dressing plus the tang of lemon and fresh mint, and you’ve something rather special.
Happily, this great combination of flavours and textures is pretty easy to achieve. Just follow my simple steps and you’ll have a healthy meal in a bowl or wonderful side dish. I love Spiced Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables served with chicken or fish kebabs, the protein seasoned with some of the extra spice mix. Leftovers are great for lunch with a little yogurt and chopped raw veggies like tomatoes and cucumber.
If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to know what you thought. Please do leave a comment and rating.
Spiced Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
A Moroccan-inspired dish that makes a healthy, delicious lunch, or can be served as a side to fish or meat. Or eat as one of several small plates, mezze style.
Note that the recipe makes more of the spice mix than you need but it's great stored in a jar and used to flavour meat, fish, soups, dressings, dips, etc.
It's recommended that you read the accompanying blog post before starting.
Ingredients
Spice mix
- 3 level tsp ground cumin
- 2 level tsp paprika
- 1 level tsp ground ginger
- 1 level tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ - ½ tsp hot or mild chilli/red pepper flakes
For the roasted vegetables
- 1 medium sweet potato (peeled and diced)
- 1 medium red pepper (diced)
- 1 medium courgette (diced)
- 1 medium onion (skinned and cut into sixteenths)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and black pepper
- 2 rounded tsp spice mix
- 120 g cooked chickpeas (amount can be doubled if liked)
For the couscous
- 120 g couscous (wholewheat if possible)
- 30 g raisins
- 30 g dried apricots (chopped)
- salt (to taste)
- 1 rounded tsp spice mix
- 250 g/ml boiling water from a kettle
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ medium lemon juice only
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 rounded tsp tomato puree
- 1 - 2 rounded tsp spice mix
- 1 - 3 tsp honey or another sweetener
- salt and black pepper (to taste)
Other ingredients
- 30 g pine nuts (toasted in a dry frying pan)
- 1 large handful mint leaves (finely chopped or shredded)
Instructions
Make the spice mix
-
Stir all the spices together in a small bowl or shake in a screw-topped jar. Add as much or as little chilli/red pepper flakes as you like.
Roast the vegetables
-
Preheat your oven to 220° C /200° Fan /Gas 7 /425° F with a shelf positioned near the top.
Line a large baking tray with foil.
Put the prepared sweet potato, red pepper, courgette and onion onto the tray, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle over 2 rounded tsp of the spice mixture then toss it through the vegetables.
Place in the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are starting to soften and char a little.
Tip: during this time soak the couscous and make the dressing as per the steps below.
Increase the heat to 240° C /220° Fan /Gas 9 /475° F and add the chickpeas to the tray, tossing them in the spicy oil.
Cook for another 5 minutes or until the vegetables are done to your liking.
Remove the tray from the oven and set aside.
Prepare the couscous
-
Put the couscous, raisins and apricots in a large heatproof bowl. Add a large pinch of salt and 1 rounded tsp of the spice mix and stir.
-
Pour over the boiling water, stir well, then set aside until the couscous has absorbed all the water and is soft.
Fluff up with a fork then transfer to a large serving bowl.
Make the dressing
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Put all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together: taste and add more of any ingredient until it's to your taste.
Tip: start with the smaller amounts of honey and spice mix, a large pinch of salt, and a generous of grind of pepper and see how you like it.
Assemble the salad
-
Tip the roasted vegetables, chickpeas, and all their cooking juices into the fluffed-up couscous. Toss well to combine.
Pour over the dressing, toss again, then set aside until the vegetables are cool.
Tip: set aside in the fridge if the room is warm or you plan to eat later.
-
When ready to serve, taste and adjust the seasoning or spices if necessary then toss through the pine nuts and mint.
Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Best brought to room temperature before eating.
