Cous cous with roasted veg

served with grilled garlic & rosemary lamb

(serves 4)

This is an upgraded version of an old post that I put up a few years ago near the beginning of this blog! This is now new and improved, and back in the picture of easy lunches/dinner to make! Although it's not a fast one, most of the work is done by the oven and you can roast the vegetables in advance. It also keeps well for a few days and can be served warm or cold, and easy to serve with lamb/steak/chicken to keep it interesting!

Prep time: 30 min
Cooking time: 45 min (oven) + 15 min (grill)

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato
1 large eggplant
2 large zucchini
1 spanish onion
3/4 C cous cous
5 sprigs basil
10 sprigs parsley
4 lamb shoulder chops (400g)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Marinade
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried rosemary, or 1-2 stems fresh rosemary
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Peel and dice sweet potato into 2cm chunks.
3. Dice the eggplant into 2cm squares, cut the zucchini into thick semi-circles.
4. Cut the spanish onion into wedges.
5. Dress all the vegetables in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
6. Meanwhile, marinade the lamb and set aside. 
7. Place the cous cous in a bowl, add 3/4 C boiling water. Cover for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.
8. Finely chop the basil and parsley and toss in with the cous cous. 
9. In a large serving bowl, combine the roasted vegetables with the cous cous. 
NB. If preparing in advance, you can refrigerate after this step, and serve with your choice of different meats on different days. 
10. When ready to serve, grill the lamb chops on medium heat for 5-8 minutes each side until medium rare, or as desired.
11. Cut the lamb into thin strips and serve with the cous cous salad.

Delicious vegetarian (left), or served with lamb (right)!