I’ve been waffling between eating leftover Halloween candy for dinner and trying to make up for it by eating only vegetables. I’m not the best at eating healthy. I eat for pleasure more than necessity, which I’m working on. But yes, you can have both pleasure and eat only vegetables! Because this roast vegetable cous cous salad is beyond healthy and tasty. We don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.
I was inspired by Samin Nosrat’s show Salt Fat Acid Heat. She roasts a bunch of vegetables in Za’atar in an episode, and they looked so crazy good, I wanted to try it myself with a few differences. Za’atar is basically sumac and a few other spices, but it’s so aromatic. I love it and now want to put it on everything.
Here’s how you make it! Start by prepping all your veggies. We’re gonna peel the carrots, cutting them longways and then cutting them into 3 inch pieces. Then trim all the brussels sprouts ends and slice them in half longways. You can put the brussels sprouts and carrots on the same baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and za’atar. Then make sure they’re in an even layer.
On another baking sheet you’ll add the cauliflower and broccoli. I chopped the end off the cauliflower, peeled off the leaves, then cut it in half top to bottom, cutting out the thick core and chopping the florets into 1 inch pieces. You can chop the end off the broccoli and chop the florets into 1 inc pieces. Then you know the drill, drizzle with olive oil, salt and za’atar and toss to coat. Evenly spread them out on the baking sheet.
To roast, make sure your oven is really hot, then place both baking sheets in the oven at once on the middle rack and bottom rack. Halfway through cooking, rotate the pans and trade racks.
While the vegetables are roasting, make your cous cous. In a small pot, add the water, olive oil and salt. Bring to a boil and add the cous cous. Then turn down to a simmer and cover, simmering for 10 minutes or so.
Now once the veggies are nice and caramelized, you can take them out and scrape them into a mixing bowl. From there, we’ll mix together a vinaigrette. I used shallots, vinegar, and olive oil plus some za’atar. Add your cooked cous cous to your veggies, toss and then add the vinaigrette and toss again, coating everything.
Serve with crusty bread as an entree or as a side dish. This dish is so incredibly flavorful. See the full recipe below.
- 4 carrots
- 1 lb brussel sprouts
- 1 head cauliflower
- 2 crowns broccoli
- 1 shallot
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- 3 tsp za'atar
- 1 cup pearled cous cous, uncooked
- 1½ cups water
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Peel the carrots, slice in half longways and cut into 3 inch long pieces. Slice the root ends off the brussel sprouts and slice the sprout in half longways. Place the sprouts and carrots on a baking sheet together, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and 1 tsp of za'atar. Toss to coat and then make sure they're in one even layer.
- Cut off the stem of the cauliflower and slice the cauliflower in half top to root. Cut out the remaining core from the center and slice the cauliflower into inch sized florets. Cut the end off the broccoli and cut into florets. Toss the broccoli and cauliflower onto a second baking sheet and add a drizzle of olive oil, generous sprinkle of salt and 1 tsp of za'atar and toss to coat, then evening out into one even layer on the pan. Put both pans in the oven, one on the middle rack and one on the bottom rack.
- Bake for 15 minutes, and then rotate the pans and switch pans to the opposite shelves. Bake another 15 minutes or until the vegetables have caramelized and are fork tender. They may need up to ten more minutes. Once caramelized, remove from the oven and place all the vegetables into a large mixing bowl.
- While the vegetables are cooking, in a small pot, add the water, a pinch of salt, and a tbsp of olive oil. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the cous cous and turn down to low and cover, simmering for 8-10 minutes. Pour the cous cous in with the vegetables and toss.
- Dice your shallot, finely, then place the shallot into a small bowl. Add the 3 tbsp vinegar, 3 tbsp olive oil, and the remaining tsp of za'atar to the shallot. Add a pinch of salt and whisk. Pour this mixture over the vegetables and toss to coat.
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