Couscous with vegetables is a delicious and flavorful single dish perfect for summer; it can be served either warm or cold and is a great alternative to rice salad.
When I prepare it, there’s never any left; it’s a simple dish very quick to make and perfect to bring to the office, beach, or serve at a cold buffet.
For making it, I used all the seasonal vegetables I had available; if you don’t like some, you can easily replace them with your preferred ones.
The characteristic of couscous is its extreme versatility; you can pair it with chicken bites, pork, or shrimp to create different varieties, each more delicious than the last.
If you have any leftovers, you can store them in airtight containers in the fridge or freeze them.
Delicious recipes perfect for summer:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 74.06 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 8.93 (g) of which sugars 2.60 (g)
- Proteins 1.90 (g)
- Fat 3.73 (g) of which saturated 0.53 (g)of which unsaturated 0.10 (g)
- Fibers 1.83 (g)
- Sodium 304.21 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The weight of the vegetables is net of waste, already cleaned.
- 3.5 oz Tropea red onion
- 5.3 oz zucchini
- 5.3 oz carrots
- 3.5 oz peas
- 8.8 oz sweet peppers (I used small red, yellow, and orange peppers)
- 3.5 oz piccadilly tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- A few leaves basil (fresh)
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 7 oz cooked couscous (I use the pre-cooked one with short cooking time)
- 1.7 cups water
- Half tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Frying Pan
Instructions
Wash all the vegetables well, then cut them as you prefer; I try to give slightly different shapes to make the final effect more appealing.
Trim the zucchini, cut them in half, then into slices.
Peel the carrots and cut them into thin slices.
Cut the tomatoes in half.
Remove the green part and filaments from the peppers and cut them into sticks.
Peel the onion and cut it into thin slices, let it brown in a large frying pan with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Add the chopped vegetables and cook for 10/15 minutes over medium heat, stirring often. Add the basil, adjust with salt and pepper, cook for another minute and turn off the stove.
Put 1.7 cups of water in a saucepan with half a tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil, bring to a boil and turn off the stove. Add the couscous, stir, and cover for 6/7 minutes (follow the time indicated on the couscous package you purchased).
Fluff the couscous with a fork.
Pour the couscous into the pan with the vegetables and mix well. If needed, add more oil and, if you like, some fresh mint.
The couscous with vegetables is ready; you can enjoy it hot or cold.
Tips
Storage
Couscous can be stored in the fridge for 3/4 days in airtight containers.
It can be frozen.
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