Roast Pumpkin and Chickpea Couscous

Recipe by Goodpart Uploaded by Drimble Wedge

Promised I'd post this for Bubble Babble, and I thought maybe some of you might get a kick out of this too. It's one of my favourite dishes. Discovered it in late '06 not long after I became a vegetarian and it's still something I make every few weeks. It kicks ass.

• 1 cup couscous (you could probably substitute quinoa if you want to go with the healthier option: definitely preferred!)
• 1 can chickpeas, drained/rinsed
• 1/4 of a butternut pumpkin, cubed into 2cm (1 inch) pieces
• 1/4 cup of basil pesto, olive oil base
• Handful of baby spinach leaves
• Lemon juice to taste
• 150-250 grams (5-9 ounces, I think?) of feta cheese
• 1 and 1/4 cups of stock (I use vegetable stock, obviously; add another 1/4 cup if you use quinoa)

COOKING TIME: about 20 minutes

SERVES: 4-5, give or take depending on serving size

NOTE: these directions are for the couscous. I personally have never cooked quinoa so I'm not sure on the fineries of cooking it, so just go with it.

Preheat your oven to about 200 degrees Celsius (about 390-400 Fahrenheit I think). Toss the cubed pumpkin in olive oil, season it, throw it on a baking tray with baking paper/foil, and start cooking that shit.

While that's going, place the stock on the stovetop and slowly bring it to the boil. Make sure it doesn't start to reduce because you'll probably end up short on liquid to cook the couscous.

You can do one of two things with the feta. Personally, I use a fork to crumble it up so that it ends up not unlike the couscous itself. However, you can also cut it into cubes like the pumpkin if you're partial to that.

Once the liquid is at boiling point, pour it on top of the couscous (or add the couscous to the pot, taking it off the heat) and cover it. It should only take a few minutes.

When the couscous and pumpkin is ready -- the couscous should be fluffy and soft, the pumpkin tender and crispy on the outside -- toss the chickpeas and the feta in with the couscous, then add the pesto and as much lemon juice as you want. I like plenty.

The last thing you need to add is any salt and pepper you feel is necessary (but honestly, it probably isn't since the feta and stock are salty, and the pesto is laden with seasonings anyway), the pumpkin, and then finally the spinach. It shouldn't be hot at this point, but the spinach will still wilt. It's hard to stir at this point so good fucking luck try not to break the pumpkin up too much.

Serve that shit up and enjoy it.

By the way, I'm trying to work a sort of low-carb diet into my veg stuff. Quinoa instead of couscous is an example of that, but if anyone has any good low carb veg recipes I would love to see them posted.

Photo contributed by Bubble Babble, who went on to say: It was delicious! We went very light on the pesto, because overall the recipe is pretty calorie-dense as it is, but it made it so much better with it. I put a little too much lemon juice in it, but it was still awesome.

It made about six servings for us.