This roasted strawberry couscous is filled with fennel, peppers, Israeli couscous and basil for a deliciously sweet and summery side salad.
You know how something gets all hyped up, you’re dying to try whatever it is, it seems like years before you finally are able to only to be hugely disappointed with whatever the thing was?
Yeah, that’s not the case with this.
Roasted strawberries. Two words that have been haunting my dreams for weeks (mainly thanks to this) and that are as kick-ass in real life as they sound.
So much so that I may or may not have licked the baking sheet to get all the juices left behind after transferring them to the serving bowl.
If you were a fly on the wall in my house yesterday you would’ve seen me licking baking sheets during lunchtime making this, pulling my pajama pants (don’t judge) down around 11am when I felt an itch on my upper thigh that kept moving as I scratched it only to find an ant actually in my pants causing it (of all idioms to come true…) and around 7pm, me staring at the bathroom floor completely perplexed at the extra pair of underwear that came out of my workout shorts when I took them off to shower. I somehow went the entire day with an extra pair shoved in between the underwear I was wearing and the underwear sewn into the running shorts even though I went to the bathroom multiple times throughout the day and never noticed. I even went to the store with them shoved up there unknowingly. I wonder how many people were staring at my puffy underwear ass?
A true laundry mystery. Needless to say, I was a hot mess.
A hot mess with a delicious side dish though of roasted strawberry couscous though. It was a fair trade.
I’d take ants and superfluous underwear in my pants again if it was what stood between me and this.
Whole wheat pearled couscous cooked with orange juice, roasted strawberries, fennel and yellow pepper with lots and lots of basil.
Fruity, summery and fresh. Just beware of insects and rogue undergarments while making.
Grain salads like this are some of my favorite summertime lunches along with recipes like strawberry tabbouleh, lentil tabbouleh or bulgur wheat salad.
Looking for a strawberry-less version of this salad? Try this Israeli couscous Greek salad instead or make pesto couscous using the regular variety.
Roasted Strawberry Couscous
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pearled couscous, Israeli couscous
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 orange juice
- 1 1/2 cup strawberries, hulled
- 1/2 bulb of fennel, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tablespoons basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon honey
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, heat coconut oil over medium-high heat.
- Add couscous and toss to coat in oil. Toast couscous in sauce pan for 2-3 minutes.
- Add water and orange juice, bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer until liquid is fully absorbed (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Toss strawberrries, peppers and fennel in a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt & pepper.
- Spread out onto baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Combine couscous and roasted fruit/vegetables in a medium bowl, toss together with basil and dress with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and honey.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Another I’ve never… I’ve never roasted strawberries but earlier today I thought about how much I REALLY want to. And I want to be a non gross (because I hate flies) fly on your wall lol. I’d have died laughing watching you lick your pans. And just be glad the extra undies didn’t come out while walking around a store ha! :p
HA! The underwear story had me dying. That totally sounds like something I would do/have done.!! Did you squash the ant?
of course! he didn’t stand a chance ;)
All the comments above made me laugh almost as much as the ant in the pant story. The underwear thing has yet to happen to me, but there may or may not be a pair or two behind my couch (don’t worry they’re clean and fell during laundry sorting) that I’m just too lazy to move the couch and fetch. So yeah. You’re welcome.
I am loving roasted fruit this summer already. This is my kind of dish!
I have a roasted fruit post coming up! I had been eyeing Jessica’s post, too, and re-reading my Heidi Swanson/101cooks cookbook and her roasted berries. And now yours….yum to the roasted strawberries! Gorgeous plates and styling, too!
kind of hilarious about that ant in your pants. And I’ve never had underwear stuck in my clothes but I’ve VERY frequently found dryer sheets in my shorts/pants even after wearing them all day long
You are hilarious! I’d rather have an extra pair of underwear in my pants than toilet paper hanging out of them! :) I have to try the roasted strawberries. This dish just sounds so fantastic, alot of wonderful flavors going on in there!
Roasted Strawberry Couscous looks so delicious… I love the presentation! Beautifully created. I read the recipe and I think this is very interesting to cook. I will try this on this coming weekend.
Got a good laugh out of this one :) Of all the idioms to come true hahah. I’ve seen roasted strawberries and roasted grapes lately. Both of which you have now actually conquered while I’m still just dreaming about them.
Doooo it :)
This may or may not have made me laugh out loud in my cubicle. Did I get a few dirty looks? I did! Do I care? No. Because not only is this post hysterical (and I *totally* relate), this recipe looks deeeeelish! I will be trying this soon!