Couscous with Roasted Vegetables

We weren't planning to post two recipes on the same day but it so happened that we logged on to Food Network around 11.00 am today and were glued to it for sometime. The reason being many- firstly, we were watching the channel again after a long time; our old apartment did not have a proper wiring system which made it difficult for us to receive cable television, secondly, there were some interesting dishes that caught our fancy. One such show was Danny Boome's "Rescue Chef." Today's recipe is from this show where Boom uses roasted summer vegetables with couscous. He uses orange juice and cumin in this dish, something we have not seen before. We couldn't wait to try and find out how it tasted-- we tell ya it was breathtakingly AWESOME!. The tang from the orange juice and the smokiness from the spices, along with the aroma from the olive oil made this dish just divine.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

To make couscous:
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock

To roast:
1 zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup diced eggplant, diced
2 tbsp Extra virgin Olive oil
fresh pepper from the mill
salt

Syrup:
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder

To garnish:
3 tbsps cilantro

Step 1: To prepare the couscous-microwave the vegtable stock for 4 mins and add to couscous. Cover and let it stand for 20-25 mins.

Step 2: To roast-add the vegetables to a glass baking tray. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Toss well. In the mean time, pre heat the oven to 450F. Place the vegetables in the oven and roast for 30 mins.

Step 3: To prepare the syrup- in a bowl add the "Syrup" ingredients. Mix well.

Step 4: Add the couscous and the syrup to the roasted vegetables. Toss well. Garnish with cilantro. Can be eaten hot or cold. We love to eat it cold after being refrigerated for a day.

Enjoy!