Grilled Veggie and Couscous Salad Yum

The weather has been so nice lately and we love spending the days in our backyard as much as possible.  The evenings have also been amazing so we have been grilling and BBQ’ing more often.

The one thing I have learned from watching The Food Network like an addict is that you can pretty much cook anything on a grill that you would in a stove or even an oven.  Haven’t tried “baking” anything on the grill yet, but I’m playing around with a few ideas.

Previously I used to think the grill was strictly for hot dogs, burgers, corn, and a few other select foods.  I decided to venture out of my realm and try otherwise and the results were so amazing!  Like most of my recipes, I try to incorporate as much of the rainbow as possible and use whatever fresh produce I have in my fridge.  For this mediterranean inspired bowl, I used eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, and shishito peppers.

Toss it with warm couscous, salty feta, and a squeeze of lemon….it’s a burst of flavors in each bite.  Grilling the veggies totally enhanced the flavors with the char and smoky taste added in.  Absolutely the perfect touch!

From my kitchen to yours, enjoy this amazing salad!

Ingredients:
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant
7-8 shishito peppers
2 Tbsp Avo oil
2 Tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp dried rosemary)
salt to season
pepper to season
Lime slices

For the Couscous:
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp salt
1 c pearl couscous
1 ¼ c veggie broth

Directions:
Preheat your grill to 400ºF
On one side, heat a cast iron skillet.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter.  Add in the garlic and salt and sauté for 1 minute.  Add in the parsley and couscous.  Toast until the couscous has a light red color to it.  Add in the broth, cook for 10 minutes.
Take it off the heat, fluff with a fork then cover for 5 minutes.

Slice all the veggies into 1″ steaks lengthwise.
In a large bowl, mix oil, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Add in veggie steaks and toss to coat with seasoning.
Lay all the veggies on the grill and let them cook for 5-7 minutes.
Meanwhile, toss the shishito peppers in the leftover seasoning mix then add them to the cast iron skillet on the grill.

Flip the veggies over and let them cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, give the shishito peppers a toss so that they cook evenly.  Peppers should be on the skillet cooking for about 3-5 minutes.  Towards the end, they should get a light char on the skin.
When all the veggies are cooked, transfer to chopping board and roughly chop them, with the exception of the shishito peppers.

In a bowl, layer couscous then veggies on top.  Sprinkle feta, a squeeze of lime and add the shishito peppers to the side.

Enjoy!