Several houses in our village sell vegetables plucked from their garden allotments throughout the summer. Although we can get fresh vegetables at the open air markets elsewhere in the area, there’s something extra special about veg that’s grown just down from the lane we live on, that we’ve seen seen in all their growth stages – from seedlings to ripe for picking. To take advantage of this perk, I’ve mussied up the kitchen testing out summery salads that are substantial enough to be a main course for lunch or the primary side dish at a dinner time BBQ. The salad featured here is one of them.
I pinched the guts of this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s lovely cookbook, Jamie’s Italy. It’s based on his “insalata di farro con verdure al forno”. Translation? A farro (spelt) salad with roasted veg. Sounds simple enough in plain English.
Unfortunately I haven’t found spelt in the supermarkets…yet. Or, bulghar wheat. These are the grains that the recipe prescribes and either would set within this dish a delicious, nutty backbone. So, I’ve resorted to plan B: couscous. Couscous still creates a tasty salad, but it’s different enough from spelt that I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit to compensate. And in the locavore spirit, I’ve stuck to using what I can buy in the village. So, at times I’ve had to use a finer grain of couscous over the preferred medium grain. I’ve also had to tweak the amounts of some of the vegetables based on the size or general availability: the eggplants have proved to be “tres grande” (i.e. monsters) compared to the ones I used to buy in Whole Foods, and the zucchini tends to be massive as well; the yellow squash is often absent from the squash bins. Anyhoo….
Couscous & Veg à les Jardins de Roqubrun
- 1 box of medium-grain couscous (about 14 oz.)
- salt-free chicken or vegetable stock (preferably made from scratch, but ready-made works too). The amount will depend on how much couscous you intend to make.
- 2 yellow squash, halved lengthways and deseeded, then cut into half moons
- 1 zucchini (courgettes),halved lengthways and deseeded, then cut into half moons
- 2 bulbs of fennel, trimmed and thickly sliced, leafy tops reserved
- 2 small red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 red bell peppers, halved, deseeded, and cut into chunks
- 1 eggplant, cut into chunks
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- white wine vinegar (you’ll need maybe a tablespoon or two or three)
- fresh herbs – a ginormous bunch that includes flat-leaf parsley, sweet basil, oregano, thyme and mint
- half a lemon, perhaps a whole lemon
- a heaping handful of sliced almonds
To Make:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a single layer, put all of the chopped vegetables into a roasting pan along with the garlic cloves. Splash the veggies and garlic with a generous shower of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast them in the pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes, taking them out from time to time to shake them a little, and to make sure they’re cooked through and crisping nicely around the edges.
- The amount of couscous you make should be in proportion to your veg. If you have a lot of veg, amp up the amount of couscous. In the end, you’ll probably have to adjust the amount of lemon juice and olive oil in the final phase of this dish, but that’s how you make someone else’s recipe sort of your own.
- While the veggies are roasting, prepare the couscous as per the package directions but be sure to cook it in the broth rather than plain water. I also like to add a little bit of olive oil to it once it’s cooked, just to make sure it’s moist but not sloppy. The couscous can be kept warm or allowed to cool. I like this salad at both temperatures.
- When the veggies are ready, remove them from the oven and immediately give them a nice splash of the white wine vinegar and allow them to cool. Once they are cool, unload the veggies onto a chopping board, add the fresh herbs, and chop everything up into smaller pieces.
- In a small, non-stick frying pan, toast the almond slivers until they’re a nice light brown. Be careful not to burn them! (Or scorch them, as I have once…OK, twice.)
- Empty the couscous into a large mixing (or serving) bowl, and dress with some more olive oil, the juice of the lemon, some more salt and freshly ground pepper. I sometimes add juices left in the roasting pan. Toss in the vegetables and mix them well with the couscous and the toasted almonds. Sprinkle the reserved fennel leaves on top.
- You may want to add a little more lemon juice, garnish it with a little more fresh mint and sweet basil, or add in some chunks of feta or shaved parmesan cheese if the spirit moves you. Which is what I do. And not because I don’t know when to quit.
This is a colorful dish that makes a pretty presentation, especially if you get enough red onion, red pepper, and yellow squash into the mix. It’s also what I would call accessible food, food that’s easy to imagine moving from plate to mouth.
While I’m fond (for obvious, biased reasons) of my version of this salad, I highly recommend the Italian cuisine themed book from which the original recipe was derived. I love Italian food, especially the kind served at the table of your average fisherman, farmer or candlestick maker. It’s not Michelin star fare, but it’s lick-the- plate good. What more do you need?
