Couscous and oven roasted veges with green herb dressing

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A colourful vegetable and couscous salad, drizzled with a punchy herb dressing.

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 25 mins

Serves 6

Good source of iron

Low Sodium

Ingredients

Salad

2 cups Israeli couscous
3 tablespoons olive oil
250g baby carrots, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise
250g baby purple carrots, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise
1 eggplant, cut into 1.5cm slices
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon (see tips)
1 lemon for squeezing
4 handfuls baby green leaves
small handful mint leaves, shredded

Green herb dressing

1 well packed cup flat leaf parsley leaves
1 well packed cup coriander leaves
2 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
good pinch dried red chilli flakes
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method

Green herb dressing

Place the herbs, spring onion, garlic, lemon zest, cumin and chilli in the bowl of a food processor. Process to roughly chop the herbs. While the processor is on, drizzle in the olive oil followed by the vinegar. Season with salt and place dressing in a small screw top jar. Keep in the fridge.

Salad

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the Israeli couscous and cook for 7-8 minutes until tender. Drain and refresh under cold water to arrest cooking. Drain well, then place in a large bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil to prevent sticking and set aside.

Brush eggplant slices with some of the remaining olive oil and place on the grill and cook until very tender. Cut into big chunks and add to the Israeli couscous.

Place the carrots in a bowl with the remaining olive oil and season. Place the carrots on the grill, turning often, until tender or cooked to your liking. Remove and place in with the Israeli couscous.

Add the preserved lemon, greens and mint. Toss gently to combine, adding a little extra olive oil if needed and a good few squeezes of lemon juice. Place on a large shallow serving plate.

To serve

Drizzle with some of the green herb dressing and accompany with your favourite beef or lamb.

Goes great with
Nutrition
Tips & Tricks

BARBECUED BUTTERFLIED LAMB LEG WITH HERB MAYONNAISE

BEEF KEBABS WITH SOUTHERN SPICE RUB

LEMON, HONEY & ROSEMARY LAMB RIBS

Nutrition Information Per Serving

Serving size: 264g

Energy kJ (kcal)	1574(390)
Protein (g)	8.1
Fat (g)	22
Saturated (g)	3.7
Carbohydrate (g)	37
Sugars (g)	8
Sodium (mg)	51
Fibre (g)	7.6
Iron (mg)	2.1
Vitamin C (mg)	21
Vitamin A (ug)	749

Oven cooking a whole beef eye fillet – 1.5kg: Preheat the oven to 210°C. Heat a large frying pan or cast iron flat plate over high heat. Brown fillet on all sides. Remove and place in a shallow baking tray. Spread over a little Dijon mustard, drizzle with a little olive oil and grind over black pepper. Place in the hot oven and cook for 18 minutes for medium rare beef. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with salt, cover loosely with foil or baking paper and a tea towel and leave to rest.
Preserved lemon in a jar can be purchased at your local supermarket or foodstore. Rinse and finely slice or chop the rind before use. Discard fleshy bits.