Couscous- The food so nice they named it twice!
I don’t know about you all but I LOVE couscous. It’s so easy to whip up and it pairs so well with fresh veggies and herbs. I must admit that I’ve been hitting the quinoa a little too hard recently and haven’t been giving much love to couscous. However, tonight I’ve changed that pattern. I gave my heart and soul to this lovely dinner.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you all know that I am a huge eggplant lover. I don’t necessarily love harvesting the darn thing, but fresh eggplant is one of my favorite summertime vegetables.
Taylor and I spent this past weekend seeding our second round of eggplant. We are going to have 3 different plantings throughout the summer so we should have eggplant readily available for the majority of the season.
There is no place I’d rather be than at Tumbleweed Farm on a hot Sunday afternoon in May! Even if a nasty sunburn was involved!
Alright, back to the stuffed eggplant….These couscous stuffed eggplants are pretty darn easy. They taste as fresh as summertime and happen to be a very healthy dinner. Pour yourself some of your favorite house wine and dig in my friends!
Couscous-Stuffed Eggplant with Tomatoes and Feta (serves 2)
As always adjust seasonings to your liking. All the measurements below are just an estimate of what I did.
2 tbs olive oil divided
1 large eggplant,
1/2 cup dry couscous
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup kalamata olives, finely chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 cut parsley, diced
a few handfuls of crumbled feta cheese
juice from 1 lemon
crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 400.
Slice eggplant in half lengthwise. Scoop out middle leaving 1/4 inch border (reserving innards for cooking)
Drizzle eggplant with a little olive oil salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.
While eggplant roasts cook couscous according to package directions.
Meanwhile heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add garlic. Cook for about 2 more minutes. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, parsley, eggplant innards, crushed red pepper flakes and juice from 1 lemon. Stir to combine. Reduce heat and cook until all ingredients are warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove eggplant from oven. Scoop couscous mixture into each eggplant half and top with feta cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
Place back in the oven for about 3 more minutes or until cheese has slightly melted. Enjoy hot!
couscous is definitely one of my favorite grains- what a wonderful way to enjoy it!
I love cous cous too! I’ve been loving Israeli cous cous in soups, too. It’s so pearly and slippery! It’s great in broth!
Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies and SO under appreciated, right? Most of my family never wants to try eggplant recipe, so I’m glad I’m all grown up and moved out and can make it whenever I want now 🙂
Yum!!
“couscous” really does just roll off your tongue 😉 These stuffed eggplants look marvelous and I love that they’re overflowing with goodies. You’re definitely where I come to first if I’m looking for an eggplant recipe!
This stuffed eggplant looks so yummy and colorful. Wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Love the blog design! Also, I could eat about 10 of these, they look so so good!!
Haha “hitting the quinoa a little too hard” – you bad girl, you. I too have neglected the couscous in the back of my cupboard lately. Thanks for some inspiration!
I muuuust live under a rock, because I’m new to the whole other-grain-type stuff other than pasta and rice, lol. I felt fancy when I found out what orzo was! So couscous, quinoa, barley .. all new to me! However, I could definitely learn quickly if it meant I would be rewarded with these mega-gorgeous stuffed eggplants! They look SO hearty and perfect for a summer side!
You keep finding new things to stuff and I keep drooling over all of them! This looks incredible-love,love,love…love. 🙂
Your stuffed eggplant dishes look so pretty they convince me to try it myself.. I’m not much of an eggplant lover but this sounds so good!
I love couscous too! And stuffing it in eggplant sounds delicious. So much tastiness!
What a gorgeous way to feature both couscous and eggplant (two of my favs!) You and I must be on a similar brain length because we finally made couscous tonight after what feels like weeks of quinoa! Thank you for sharing!
What a delicious dinner! I love using veggies as a vessel for serving the rest of the meal. I must admit, I don’t often cook eggplant but you’ve inspired me to try to incorporate it more, especially in my summertime meals!
I was about to buy couscous the other day, but didn’t have a good recipe so I didn’t. If only I saw this earlier!!
Just made this for dinner tonight…it’s fabulous! Love, love, LOVE your recipies Andrea. Thanks from PA.
So happy you liked it!!!
Made this for my mom on mother’s day. It was a big hit! Thanks for another great recipe!
Made this tonight and loved it! This is a definite “keeper”. Didn’t have couscous so I used quinoa instead. Otherwise, stuck with the recipe. And I would highly recommend it.
I have made this three or four times now and it has turned out perfectly! I’m not a confident cook, but I’m definitely going to impress my chef husband with this when he gets home. And the leftovers in the microwave taste fabulous as well, I am not kidding!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I used pearl couscous and followed the directions. Will definitely make again, thank you for the recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!