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Seven-Vegetable Couscous with Chunky Onion Harissa

Jackie Jonas
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Course Main Course

Ingredients
  

For the couscous

  • 2 to 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large leeks white and pale green parts only, minced
  • 4 large garlic cloves chopped
  • 2 1/4 cups vegetarian broth I use Imagine vegetarian No Chicken Broth when I can find it
  • 1 cup 1/2-inch cubes peeled butternut squash you can sub in carrots instead
  • 1 large yellow crookneck squash cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 large zucchini cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 3/4 cup fresh or frozen green beans
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • cayenne pepper
  • 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes. Fire roasted if you have it, but plain will do
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/2 cups about 10 ounces couscous
  • 1 cup raisins
  • Lemon wedges

For the harissa

  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper more if you like it spicy. I generally use 2 tablespoons if I'm making it extra hot
  • 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper more if you like it really spicy but be very careful here, this is where the real heat comes from
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 6 green onions chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 1 small red onion chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves minced

Instructions
 

To make the couscous

  • Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over low heat.
  • Add leeks and garlic. Cover and cook until leeks are very tender but not brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
  • Add stock and next 7 ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Increase heat and bring mixture to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
  • Mix in tomatoes, garbanzo beans, cilantro, then couscous.
  • Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 10 minutes.
  • Fluff couscous with fork. Stir in raisins.
  • Transfer to large platter. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve, passing Chunky Onion Harissa separately.

To make the harissa

  • Combine tomato paste, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper in bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Whisk in vinegar. Mix in onions and garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Stir harissa well before using.)

Notes

This recipe is modified from one given in Epicurious with exception of the broth substitution ( they specify chicken broth). You can substitute different vegetables. I don't like Lima beans so I don't use them and sub in green beans instead. I have you add the raisins at the end rather than during the couscous addition because they don't get big and mushy that way. The Epicurious recipe calls for green peas, but I substitute garbanzos for better texture and more protein.
On [the day the video was filmed], my husband and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary with friends.. In the past I have served this couscous dish at potlucks and when entertaining friends. I always say that you can trace a person's history if you sit down at their table. You can see where they have been, what they have done, who they love...My connection to the Jewish community is primarily through communal celebrations. .I think that food traditions are a good path for connecting with a culture or a people, and when I converted to Judaism thirty years ago, I brought with me all the food traditions of my Black Southern past. Those I married to the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions I found upon entering the Jewish community. Added to that are the new traditions forged from my travels, along with my change thirty-five years ago to a plant based diet. This dish is pretty typical of what I serve when friends from both parts of my life get together. I don't have a picture of the couscous dish.. I rarely take photos of food I make unless it is for posting on my cooking blog. I prefer to live in the moment rather than document it. To my mind, sharing food with someone is a sacred act. requiring your full attention. When we sit down to celebrate or even to just feed our friends, we should give our entire attention to them. So, pictures of my parties are sparse, but the memory of every one of those meals is written on my heart.
The attached photo is from a meal I made for a fundraiser for my synagogue.