Roast Vegetable Couscous with Harissa-Style Dressing

A wonderful way to use late-summer vegetables, such as courgettes, tomatoes and peppers in a salad, combined with a fiery North African dressing. This also makes brilliant party food as you can prepare it in advance then just add the dressing to serve.

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Recipe adapted from Delia’s Summer Collection

Method

Prepare the aubergine and courgettes ahead of time by cutting them into 2.5cm dice, leaving the skins on. Then toss the dice in a level dessertspoon of salt and pack them into a colander with a plate on top and a heavy weight on top of the plate. Leave them on one side for an hour so that some of the bitter juices drain out. After that, squeeze out any juices left, and dry the dice thoroughly in a clean cloth.

Preheat the oven to 240°C, gas mark 9.

Now arrange the aubergine, courgettes, tomatoes, peppers and onion in a large shallow roasting tin, sprinkle with the crushed garlic, basil and olive oil, toss everything around in the oil to get a good coating and season. Place the tin on the highest shelf of the oven for 30–40 minutes or until the vegetables are toasted brown at the edges. When the vegetables are done, remove them from the oven and stir in the chopped olives and the capers, then remove them to a plate to cool.

When you’re ready to assemble the salad, first place the couscous in a large, heatproof bowl, then pour the stock over, add some seasoning, stir it with a fork, then leave on one side for 5 minutes, by which time it will have absorbed all the stock and softened.

Meanwhile, cut the cheese into sugar cube-sized pieces. Make up the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl, then pour into a serving jug.

To serve the salad, place the couscous in a large, wide salad bowl and gently fluff with a fork, then spoon over the roasted vegetables and cheese. Next arrange the salad leaves on top and, just before serving, drizzle a little of the dressing over the top, followed by a sprinkling of onion seeds. Hand the rest of the dressing around separately.

Nutrition 671kcals/66.4g carbohydrate/13.4g sugars/36.5g fat/9.7g saturated fat/3.5g salt per serving, using 2 tbsp of dressing per person