Couscous with Roasted Vegetables, Chicken Sausage, and Harissa

This is actually best made a day ahead so the flavors can blend. For a vegetarian entrée, omit the sausage. Harissa is a fiery-hot condiment that can be bought at Middle Eastern markets.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• Vegetables:
• 1  small eggplant (about 3/4 pound), cut into 6 wedges
• 2  small leeks (about 3/4 pound), trimmed and each cut in half lengthwise
• 1  zucchini (about 1/2 pound), cut into 4 wedges
• 2  (3-ounce) chicken sausages with basil and pine nuts (such as Gerhard's)
• 1  Vidalia or other sweet onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1  large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1  tablespoon  balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  chopped fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 5  large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 
  Dressing:
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon  balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 
  Couscous:
• 1 1/4  cups  water
• 3/4  cup  uncooked couscous
• 1  (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2  tablespoons  commercial harissa
• 2  tablespoons  water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°.

To prepare vegetables, combine first 11 ingredients; toss well. Place vegetable mixture and garlic on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until vegetables are browned and sausages are done. Cut vegetables into 1-inch pieces. Cut sausages into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

To prepare dressing, squeeze garlic cloves into a large bowl to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Mash garlic pulp with a fork. Add lemon juice and next 5 ingredients (lemon juice through salt) to garlic pulp; stir well.

To prepare couscous, bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork. Combine the couscous, chickpeas, dressing, vegetables, and sausage in a large bowl; toss gently.

Combine harissa and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Spoon 2 cups couscous mixture into each of 4 serving bowls. Drizzle each serving with 1 tablespoon harissa mixture.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

358 (29% from fat)

Fat:

11.6g (sat 2.2g,mono 5.2g,poly 3g)

Protein:

18g

Carbohydrate:

50g

Fiber:

8.4g

Cholesterol:

38mg

Iron:

5.4mg

Sodium:

1044mg

Calcium:

102mg