Whole Wheat Couscous With Grilled Vegetables, Toasted Almonds & Feta Cheese

I love to use Israeli whole wheat couscous! It has an earthy taste and holds its shape much better than regular couscous. When purchasing it make sure to check the ingredients, it should ONLY have whole wheat flour! When cooking grains I always like to taste the water after adding the salt, just to make sure it has enough.

For this particular recipe I used tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, sweet, and red onions, but you can used any vegetable you like, get creative and have fun! The vegetables can be roasted instead of grilled, in case you prefer that!

As far as the almonds I highly recommend you get raw slivered almonds and toast them, this adds a layer of flavor and texture that really compliments the dish!

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 eggplant
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 red onion
• 1/2 cup raw slivered almonds
• Feta cheese for sprinkling
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the grill to 375º-400º F.
2. Wash and cut the vegetables in half, removing seeds from the peppers. Coat lightly with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over them.
3. Place them in the grill. I always put the onions first since they take longer to cook. Turn veggies when they start to show grill marks, anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the vegetable. Cook the other side for a few more minutes. Vegetables should show grill marks, but still hold its shape. Remove and set aside.
4. In a pot big enough to cook the couscous (remember grains grow a bit when you cook them), warm up about two teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat, don’t let it smoke! Add chopped onion and minced garlic. Mix for about a minute or two, without burning the garlic or the onion.
5. Add uncooked couscous and toast for a bit, mixing it with the oil, onion and garlic.
6. Add the 1 1/4 cups of boiling water and salt to taste (I usually add about 1/2 tsp). Cover and cook over low heat for about 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it stand covered for another 3-4 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.
7. While couscous is cooking you can toast the almonds. This can be done in a toaster oven at 325ºF or using a frying pan on the stove. You just need to toast them until they show a golden color like in the picture.
8. Once everything is ready using a bowl serve a layer of couscous, a layer of the veggies (cut up), top with toasted almonds, sprinkle with feta cheese and enjoy!