Roasted Veg Cous Cous with Feta Cheese and Houmous

Hi Guys!

I thought I would share this recipe with you. This is something I have been making for a long time, and the brilliant thing about it - apart from the fact that it's delicious, is that you can mix it up and change it by using different veg or herbs and have it all year round. It's also great to make a big batch of this and have the leftovers for lunch the following day. 

This is my basic recipe, so tweak and add things to suit you.

Serves 4-6

2 red onions

2 courgettes

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

6 cloves of garlic, left in their skins

250g cherry tomatoes

500g cous cous

extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons

sea salt and black pepper

handful of mint

200g feta cheese

200g houmous

smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 200℃/gas mark 6.

Chop each onion into 8 wedges and put into a roasting tray. 

Slice the courgettes into 1cm thick rounds, deseed the peppers and slice into 1cm thick strips. Add them along with the whole garlic cloves to the tray with the onions.

Drizzle everything with a good glug of olive oil and season well. Give the tray a good toss to coat and mix everything and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Put your cous cous into a large bowl and pour over some boiling water, just enough so that everything is covered. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon, add a glug of extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Cover the bowl with a large plate, or some clingfilm and leave it for about 10 minutes.

Once the veg has had half an hour in the oven, take out the tray, add your cherry tomatoes, give it another shake and return it to the oven for another 25 minutes.

Once the cous cous has soaked up all the water and the lovely flavour of the lemon and oil, fluff it up with a fork and have a little taste. It should be nice and soft. If there is still a bit of bite to it, then add a little more water and leave covered up for a few more minutes.

Finely slice up your mint and stir it into your cous cous.   

Empty the houmous into a nice serving bowl and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of half your remaining lemon, some seasoning and a pinch of smoked paprika. Give it a little stir to mix and have a taste, add more lemon if you need to, but you should have a fantastic houmous with a nice bit of a kick to it.

When the veg is done, add it all to the bowl of cous cous and give it a good mix.

Serve it on a nice big platter as I have in the picture, and crumble over your feta cheese. When you come to eating the garlic, (which is the best part!) just squeeze it out of it's skin. It'll be sticky and delicious.

Don't worry if you have any leftovers as they are brilliant the next day, and remember to mix it up with different vegetables and herbs. Things like aubergines, squash and even sweet potato are amazing, and any soft herb like parsley or coriander will work a treat. Just keep all the veg a similar size in the roasting tray, then everything should cook and be ready together.

Enjoy!