We didn’t plant a big garden this year, only herbs, but we still have an abundance of summer vegetables thanks to neighbors and the farmers market. Our counter was overflowing with vegetables so I decided to roast a big pan of veggies. I used eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, onion, and garlic. When the vegetables were done roasting I made a Israeili Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables.
Josh likes couscous but he loves Israeli couscous. It is his favorite. Israeli couscous, which is sometimes called pearl couscous, is a small semolina pasta. It has a springy, chewy texture and is larger in size than the traditional yellow North African couscous. Israeli couscous is toasted and has a slightly nutty flavor. I buy it at Whole Foods or Sunflower Market in the bulk bins. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it, especially in this salad:)
To make the salad, I combined the Israeli couscous and roasted vegetables in a large bowl. I also added fresh basil and feta cheese. Next, I made a simple balsamic dressing and poured it over the salad. I stirred the salad until it was well coated with the dressing. We enjoyed the salad at room temperature, but it is also good chilled. This salad keeps well and makes great leftovers.
If you can’t keep up with your garden vegetables, make this Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables. It is easy and you can use up several of your vegetables at once. It is also a great salad to serve at your Labor Day party. It is fresh, healthy, and perfect for the end of summer.
Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 small eggplant chopped
- 1 small zucchini chopped
- 1 small yellow squash chopped
- 1 red pepper chopped, seeds removed
- 1 small red onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups dry Israeli Couscous
- 1/4 cup chopped basil
- 1/3 cup feta cheese
- For the Balsamic Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- 1. To roast the vegetables: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, onion, and garlic on a large baking sheet. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and gently toss. Season with salt and pepper. Place the pan in the oven and roast for about 30-35 minutes, stirring vegetables occasionally. Remove vegetables from the oven and set aside.
- 2. In a medium saucepan, bring three cups of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt, stir in the Israeli couscous. Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until couscous is just tender, with a slight bite, about 10 to 13 minutes. Drain into a fine mesh strainer and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- 3. In a large bowl, combine couscous and roasted vegetables. Stir in the basil and feta cheese.
- 4. To make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, mustard, and garlic. Add the oil in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over couscous and vegetables and stir until well combined. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Have you tried this recipe?
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If you like this Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables, you might also like:
- Green Israeli Couscous Salad from Joy the Baker
- Israeli Couscous Taco Salad from What’s Gaby Cooking?
- Israeli Couscous Greek Salad from Healthy Green Kitchen
I also love Israeli couscous! This recipe in particular sounds lovely. Yum!
Mm i bet those vegetables smelled amazing while they were roasting! Israeli couscous is the best
What wonderful colours and flavours, I can’t wait to try this.
Is it bad that my hubs and his relatives all come from Israel and I’ve never cooked this for him!? I think I should change that. Whoops 🙂
Those roasted veggies look PERFECT!
And I was just on Jenny’s site and what she and Amanda made for you….I would love to come raid your house or snatch the shipment outta the delivery guy’s hands 🙂
I love Israeli couscous – love it so much more than the tiny couscous!
Mmmmm…Israeli couscous is sooo good. This looks fabulous with all of the delicious vegetables! 🙂
MAN that looks good, and right up my alley, something I would totally cook. I love the big couscous, it’s so delicious! Note to self, need to eat more of it. Thanks for the inspiration!
israeli couscous is probably one of my favorite things ever, and the problem is that i never eat it! it’s delicious though and i love that you paired it with such colorful veggies 🙂
Salads like this are one of my favorite things about this time of year.
And Israeli couscous is one of favorite things! It’s so good and doughy.
oh I love the mix of veggies in this dish. Roasted vegetables are delicious this time of year!
This looks so delicious!!
That looks amazing!
You can’t go wrong with that many roasted veggies in one place!
Another fabulous veggie side dish! Thanks 🙂
LOVED seeing all the baby shower posts for you today 🙂
LOVE roasted veggies, cous cous and a dash of cheese. Can you bring this to your virtual shower please 😉
Love the chewy texture of Israeli couscous, it’s great in veggie salads like this.
This looks so healthy and delicious- perfect for late summer veggies!
Looks awesome and congrats on the new arrival coming soon!
This would be a good way to use some of my summer vegetables. Great post and congratulations on the little pea!
Thank you!
I’m with Josh, I like regular couscous, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Israeli couscous!! What a perfect way to finish out the summer—I can’t help but love all of those delicious roasted veggies!
Israeli couscous has such a nice texture. I bought a huge bag of whole wheat couscous and am still working my way through it. Love roasted vegetables which would I’m sure go perfectly with Israeli Couscous.
Beautiful salad Maria! ps Thanks for the shout-out to mine 🙂
congrats on all of the wonderful well wishes today, Maria. Had I known – I would have made something fabulous! When that baby comes, I will bake your something – and ship it off in a nice, neat little package and tied with a bow!
The shower was a surprise to us! Thanks Susan:)
i love all the colors and flavors. looks like the best of summer!
I love roasted veggies!
I have a TON of regular couscous, do you think it would come out OK if I use that instead?
Sure, you can use regular couscous. Enjoy!
Congratulations! I have to say… your blogger friends are about the most adorable friends EVER. A virtual baby shower?!?! Fun! Congratulations and I hope you are feeling well! 🙂
This is one of my favorite summer meals. I have eaten something similar probably a dozen times this summer alone, it was an easy thing for me to make since I was very very pregnant and a little lazy in the kitchen. My daughters (ages 5 &3) say they are cuckoo for couscous since we’ve eaten it so often this summer.
I would make a marinade for the vegetables using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. Then grill the vegetables along side some chicken breasts, so we didn’t have to heat up the kitchen. Once everything was cooked it all got chopped up into similar size pieces and tossed into the couscous. Delicious!
This sounds delicious! I haven’t tried Israeli couscous, but I’m betting I’ll like it much better than regular. Thanks for the tip!
We love isreali couscous but often I feel a little lost as to what to add to it. This recipe is a keeper!
You know, I have yet to try Israeli Couscous. We love making regular couscous for dinner by adding in some chick peas for extra protein. Usually, I leave the dressing separate from our leftovers portion so that the couscous doesn’t get all mushy overnight. I guess I’m just picky. 🙂
Looks like an awesome lunch, but I would use WW couscous!
SO fresh and gourmet looking! Good job guys!
Such a pretty salad – almost too pretty to eat!
I love roasted veggies, they’re so easy to make delicious!
This looks so simple and delicious…perfect for the end of summer! 🙂
Love Israeli Cous Cous and the combo with the roasted veggies is great! I get mine at Trader Joe’s.
I love salads like this-they’re so hearty!
I have been having a love affair with roasted veggies all Summer, and just discovered my love for israeli couscous this week; I cannot wait to combine the two together and try this salad.
I love to cook with roasted vegetables, and we love couscous, but I haven’t yet put the two together. Great lunch item, too. Thanks!
Delicious! I found this recipe looking for vegetarian option to serve at my next fraternity meeting. I didn’t have time to roast the veggies so I lightly sauted (is that a word?) them in some olive oil. My mom and I couldn’t stop taking “samples” of it before it had a chance to cool! I can’t wait to try it with the roasted veggies!!
A friend just sent me a link to your site, and I am officially addicted! Thanks for sharing such great recipe ideas! I look forward to reading your posts!
I just got around to making this…it was excellent. We are not big fans of egg plant so I substituted some chopped fennel with great results. I also added a handful of quartered mushrooms to the roasted vegetables.
I found that I did not need all of the dressing.
Thx for a great recipe.
I just made this again tonite, this time with orzo instead of Israeli couscous. Both are equally delicious.
Every time I try to make Israeli couscous it always turns out soft and sort of mushy, it’s still edible that way but I wish that I could figure out how to get it more firm! I always follow the directions exactly humm…..any ideas on what I may be doing wrong? Just made this btw and it’s still delicious (even with my semi mushy couscous haha).