Roasted Pumpkin Isreali Couscous Salad

It's only recent that I noticed larger pearl size couscous on the shelves of specialities delis. I have always been a fan of couscous as they are a great side dish-pairing it with a hearty stew or having it as a salad by itself. As a rule of thumb, I like to have a taste of the ingredient before attempting to try it at home. Especially when there was no written instruction on how to prepare it on the packet!!

Often, we have the luxury of tasting it in restaurants and cafe- which often leads me to experiment similar concepts in the humble home kitchen. This helps me to understand how the ingredient should be prepared, and also whether or not we will like it. No point wasting AU$7 on a packet if we are not happy with it. Hubby often joked that he gets a bang in his buck- not just for the meal in a restaurant but it is often my creativity zone when it comes to thinking of what to cook for meals.

Unfortunately, Isreali Couscous is still not very common in eateries yet. No chance to try this interesting ingredient. Hrmph.

Surprise surprise. In a recent picnic with our new french friends, they brought...... a isreali couscous salad!!! Oh how happy I was. Having a chat with her, she told me that all we needed to do was to cook Isreali couscous in a pot of boiling water as we would do with pasta. Easy done!

I love the texture of this pearl couscous and am amazed by how versatile it is. So in a recently bbq gathering, I brought a roasted pumpkin Isreali Couscous salad. I was greeted by the same reaction by our friends "What's this?", "are they little bubble tea bubbles?", "pasta?"

But they agreed that it is a light, fulfilling and healthy dish!

Roasted Pumpkin Isreali Couscous Salad (Made enough to serve 10)
250 grams of Isreali Couscous
around 1 ltre of water
pinch of salt

1kg of butternut pumpkin peeled and chopped
drizzle of honey
4 tomatoes chopped
1 cucumber chopped

3-4 extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon squeezed
1/4 tsp of honey
salt/pepper

Roast pumpkin with drizzle of honey for around 20 minutes.

Meanwhile boil water with some salt. Cook isreali couscous for around 15 minutes or when it is done. Drained and set aside.

Prepare all vegetables. Make dressing by combining olive oil with lemon, honey, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust accordingly. Toss couscous with all veges.