A few weeks back, fed up with making the same type of food all the time, I decided to look around to see if there was something I could make. Even if S and the children didn’t mind eating the same kind of food, I was not interested in making the food! I had some beetroots in my fridge plus some couscous and thought of roasting them and combining them together. I looked around and found this recipe by Blondelish which I liked and so decided to adapt. I decided to use more than beets and make this into a root vegetable salad. It was super yummy and exceeded my expectations and this is something I will definitely make it again. The addition of the feta cheese elevated the salad and was quite filling because of the couscous.

Roasted Root Vegetables and Couscous Salad with Feta Cheese

Ingredients:
½ cup couscous
2 medium sized beetroots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 small bag of baby greens
1 small feta cheese package
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp honey
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10-12 raw almonds
10-12 raw walnuts

Method:
Pour the couscous in a large pot and heat water in a kettle and when the water is boiling, cover the couscous with the boiling water, cover and keep for about 20-30 minutes. After the couscous has absorbed all the water, fluff it with a fork and lightly salt and pepper to it. I would also recommend pouring water which has salt already added to it so the couscous gets lightly salted.
In an oven-safe tray, make sections with aluminium foil, so that the beetroot does not stain the other vegetables.
In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, honey, olive oil and lemon juice and whisk until smooth to make the dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables individually and spread them evenly in the tray.
Roast the vegetables for about 30 minutes at 220 degrees celcius, stirring inbetween to make sure the vegetables are evenly cooked.
Wash and dry the salad greens and keep aside. Chop the feta cheese Into small pieces or crumble them in a plate and keep aside.
In a small dry pan, dry roast some walnuts and almonds and keep aside.
In a large serving bowl, layer the salad greens as the bottommost layer. On top of this, layer the couscous and then the roasted vegetables.
Pour any leftover dressing on top of this and check for seasoning.
Either crumble the feta cheese over the vegetables or cut the cheese into tiny pieces and sprinkle over the salad. Add the almonds and walnuts and serve.

This was seriously yummy and the children also loved it. I have already started getting requests to make this again.