Moroccan Couscous With Roasted Sweet Potatoes Chickpeas And Herb Yoghurt Food

MOROCCAN COUSCOUS WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 392F / 200C.Add the butternut squash, red onions and pepper to a large baking tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over 1 and a half tablespoons of olive oil.Toss the vegetables then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes remove the tray from the oven then add the zucchini/courgette. Toss all the vegetables together then return the tray to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes. The vegetables should be soft and slightly charred on the edges.
• While the veggies are roasting, make the couscous.
• Add the couscous to a large bowl, pour in the vegetable stock, stir, then cover the bowl with cling film or something similar. Leave for 10 minutes
• While the couscous is doing its magic and the veggies are roasting, make the dressing.Add all the spices, lemon zest and lemon juice to a bowl, whisk in the 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside until you are ready to use it.
• When the couscous is ready, use a fork and scrape the couscous to loosen it up. It should be nice and fluffy.
• Now add the chickpeas and the dressing to the couscous, stir well.
• Add the veggies and the chopped apricots and stir again.
• Finally, add the herbs and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with blanched almond slivers and pomegranate arils/seeds.

MOROCCAN COUSCOUS WITH ROASTED SWEET POTATOES, CHICKPEAS AND HERB YOGHURT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
• Cut the sweet potatoes lengthwise into wedges. In a bowl, mix the sweet potato wedges, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the thyme leaves and the chilli flakes.
• In a second bowl mix the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon olive oil, smoked paprika and some salt.
• Place the sweet potatoes on one of the prepared baking trays so that they do not lie on top of each other and season with salt and pepper to taste. Then roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes in the upper third until they are soft and slightly brown at the corners.
• In the meantime, place the chickpeas on the second baking tray. Once the sweet potatoes have been roasted for about 10 minutes, add the chickpeas in the oven. Roast everything until the vegatables are chrisp on the outside. Afterwards take the baking trays out of the oven and put them aside.
• While the vegetables are roasting, place the couscous with the vegetable stock and harissa in a bowl. Pour 1.5 times the amount of boiling water over it. Leave to soak for 5 to 10 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. Stir occasionally.
• In the meantime prepare the yoghurt sauce. Chop the herbs finely and mix with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the pomegranate into quarters and remove the pomegranate seeds. My tip: fill a large bowl with water and dissolve the seeds under water. This will help you to avoid red splashes on your clothes and the fine skin will also be easier to remove from the seeds.
• Arrange the couscous on a plate. Place roasted sweet potatoes and the chickpeas on top. Then spread the yoghurt sauce over it and garnish with fresh mint and pomegranateseeds.

MOROCCAN COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saute pan, add the shallots and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper, raise the heat to high and bring the stock to a boil. Off the heat and add the couscous. Cover the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes.
• Add the pignoli nuts and currants to the couscous, stir and serve.
• Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, salt, and peppercorns in a 16 to 20-quart stockpot with 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface as needed. Simmer uncovered for 4 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander, discarding the chicken and vegetables, and chill. Discard the hardened fat, and then pack the broth in quart containers.

MOROCCAN SWEET POTATO WITH COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Chop sweet potato, put in a pot with barely enough water to cover.
• Add salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer (just under medium temperature, not too low) for 10-12 minutes until tender.
• Cook couscous by placing in a bowl with equal amount of boiling water and covering immediately. Leave to cook while potato is simmering.
• Prepare ginger and lemon.
• Add everything except lemon zest and couscous to water and sweet potato and keep on cooking about 2 minutes.
• Stir in lemon zest.
• Fluff couscous, divide between two pasta plates (they hold the sauce better than flat plates) and top with sweet potato. Be generous with the sauce as it will soak into the couscous and add delicious flavour.

CRISPY SWEET POTATOES WITH CHICKPEAS & TAHINI YOGURT

Steps:

• Wrap each potato in foil and put directly on the hot coals of a barbecue for 35-45 mins, depending on the size of the potatoes. Insert a skewer into each one to check that they're cooked. (Alternatively, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and put the foil-wrapped potatoes on a large baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 45 mins-1 hr or until the centre is soft. Once cooked, put under a hot grill for 3 mins until the skin is blackened and crispy.)
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and fry for 2-3 mins or until softened, then stir the chickpeas into the mixture. Gently warm through for 1 min or so, then add the spinach and leave to wilt. Add the dill.
• Whisk together the lemon juice, zest and remaining olive oil in a small bowl. Season to taste and stir into the chickpea mixture. Gently mash with a potato masher until the chickpeas are slightly crushed. Mix together the yogurt and tahini in another small bowl, and season to taste with salt.
• Split the potatoes open lengthways. Fill with the bean mixture, drizzle over the tahini yogurt and top with the pine nuts and pomegranate seeds.

MOROCCAN CHICKPEAS AND SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, and wine or sherry.
• Cover and sweat over low heat for 5 minutes.
• Add the cumin, cinnamon, paprika, and red pepper flakes and cook, uncovered, 1 minute longer.
• Add the water or chickpea cooking liquid, salt, sweet potatoes, and apricots.
• Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the sweet potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add the chickpeas, raisins, and lemon juice.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the chickpeas are hot.
• Add the sliced almonds.

MOROCCAN COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Place a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the cumin, ginger, cloves, cayenne, cardamom, coriander, and allspice; gently toast until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in oil and onion, cook until softened. Stir in the bell pepper, and zucchini; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins, salt, zest, and garbanzos.
• Pour in the chicken broth and orange juice; turn heat to high and bring to a boil. When the mixture is boiling, stir in the couscous and remove from heat; cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and fold in chopped mint.

MOROCCAN TOMATO & CHICKPEA SOUP WITH COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Tip the couscous into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir through 1 tbsp of the oil. Pour over enough hot stock just to cover and cover the bowl with cling film and set aside.
• Heat the rest of the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and carrot gently for 8 mins until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 mins more then stir in the ras el hanout and harissa and cook for another minute. Pour in the tomatoes and stock and give everything a good stir. Season, add the chickpeas and simmer everything gently for 20 mins until thickened slightly then squeeze over the lemon.
• Uncover the couscous and fluff up with a fork. Spoon the soup into bowls, top each with a mound of couscous, scatter with coriander and serve with extra harissa for those who want it.