Thursday, March 25, 2010

Roasted Eggplant over Couscous

The lovely Mara posted a few eggplant recipes and her beautiful photos definitely put me in the mood. I bought one on my next grocery trip and promptly forgot about it.

Who decided to put the vegetable bin way down at the bottom of the refrigerator anyways? Out of sight, out of mind! Fortunately for 99% of the vegetables I buy, I remember them before it's too late, as was the case with Mr. Eggplant.

My favorite way to eat vegetables is to cut them all up and roast them together. Tonight was no different, but the eggplant was definitely the star.

1 medium eggplant
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 small onion
1 green pepper
2 large cloves garlic

All of these were cut and doused with a few tablespoons of the sun dried tomato oil my parents brought us for Christmas. I've told you about it before, but in case you forgot it's basically oil, sun dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and spices and herbs. A touch of Kosher salt and black pepper were added, it was all tossed around and spread onto a baking sheet. No matter what the veggies I always roast at 425° for 20 minutes and they come out perfect!

On the side I cooked Near East roasted garlic and olive oil couscous according to package instructions, except I added a couple tablespoons of pine nuts. This went onto the plate first and then I spooned the veggies over top.

It was a beautiful plate full of bright colors and tastes! It paired nicely with the softer, subtle taste of the couscous and crunch of the pine nuts.

This was exactly what I was in the mood for with eggplant in almost every bite!

Hey What's For Dinner

I'm submitting this dish to Laura's Just Another Meatless Monday. A weekly round-up of meat-free dishes to inspire and be inspired by! Stop by and join us!

7 comments:

Susan said...

I love how simple and gorgeous this is! I never have all the ingredients for a recipe - so I really can groove on this dish!

The Diva on a Diet said...

A great and satisfying meatless meal. I just love roasted veggies and with couscous they're perfect!

Jessie said...

I love this meal! When you roast veggies, you don't miss meat (not that I would anyway ;) ). I know what you mean about the veggie bin - I can't tell you how many times I'm found liquid lettuce in the back of mine *gag*

Have a great evening!

Christina said...

haha Jessie - liquid lettuce is probably the one that always slips through the cracks for me too! The others I can always find in time to still salvage!

I also forgot to mention this made tons!! I'd say enough for 4 dinner-sized portions. It was just me last night so we have tons of leftovers!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Christina, this roast veggie look really healthy. Have a nice weekend ahead.

Anonymous said...

I am going to have to try this, because I love eggplant but every time I cook it, it's nastyyy.

Laura said...

Eggplant, I love!! Roasted is the best way to inhale it too. DO you ever get a bitter one? Do you soak it?

Thanks so much for coming back to Just Another Meatless Monday every week. You are a great blogging friend to me, thanks so much!