Spring feels like it’s finally on the way. YAY. I hate the darkness of winter. I leave the house in the dark and it’s dark by the time I leave work. I love the sunshine! Whether it’s warm or a cold crisp day, it just makes me happy. I feel like I’m coming out of hibernation and with that I don’t feel the need to carb-load at every meal now.
This was an old favourite last summer as it’s a lovely quick and easy salad that can be enjoyed warm or cold. Tasty but fuss free. Perfect.
This makes enough for 4.
Ingredients
– 1 cup uncooked giant cous cous
– 2 x red onions, quartered
– 2 x courgettes, sliced
– 2 x red peppers, halved
– 1 x yellow pepper, halved
– 25g soft goats cheese
– 1 x bag of salad leaves
– 1 x vegetable stock cube
– 30g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
– 2 x garlic cloves, whole
Pre-heat your oven to 180C and prep your vegetables. I leave the peppers and onions quite big because otherwise they disintegrate.
Add about 1 to 2 tbsp of olive oil to a roasting dish, add your vegetables and garlic cloves and put in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.
Whilst this is cooking, bring a pan of water to the boil, add a vegetable stock cube. Then add your cup of cous cous and cook according to instructions (mine takes about 10 minutes). I like to add a vegetable stock cube to cous cous, quinoa and rice sometimes to add some extra flavour. It means you can add them plain to a dish without a naughty sauce. I think it’s quite a good trick when adding them to salads.
When your cous cous is done, drain and set aside. Shortly after your roasted vegetables should be ready. Remove from the oven, and slice your peppers up into more bite-size pieces. The onions should have fallen apart. Add the cous cous to the roasting dish and mix in with all the veg and make sure it’s coated with the olive oil. Also add the sun-dried tomatoes and mix in.
I normally serve this up in a big bowl and everyone can help themselves. Place the salad leaves in first, then your cous cous and vegetable mix. Crumble over the goats cheese. I also like to add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
It’s that simple! I love this salad because it’s pretty healthy but actually keeps me full. Always a bonus in the lead up to summer. It’s also excellent cold for lunch the next day, so it’s great for Sunday night batch cooking. This will become your go-to salad too I’m sure.
