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Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Jewelled Giant Couscous
This fresh, zingy veggie centrepiece is perfect for this time of year. It’s great hot, warm or even cold. It combines roasted purple sprouting broccoli with a herby, lemony giant couscous salad. The tahini dressing is optional but it adds a lovely creamy note.
Purple sprouting broccoli isn’t all that different to tenderstem broccoli. Aside from the obvious colour difference, they’re pretty similar in taste and texture: purple sprouting broccoli is slightly sweeter and crisper than its tenderstem counterpart. So, if you can’t find any purple sprouting broccoli, use tenderstem instead.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 300g giant couscous (also known as Israeli couscous)
- 600ml vegetable stock
- 400g purple sprouting broccoli or tenderstem broccoli, ends trimmed
- extra-virgin olive oil
- sprinkle of crushed red chilli flakes
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 60g dried cranberries
- 60g toasted flaked almonds
- 20g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 20g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (or fresh basil leaves)
For the dressing (optional):
- 80ml good-quality tahini (see Notes)
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 lemon, juice
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 200°C / fan 180°C.
- Pour the giant couscous into a medium saucepan set over a medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until some of the pearls begin to colour, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the couscous sit covered for a further 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the purple sprouting broccoli on a large baking tray. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with chilli flakes, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer and roast until tender and lightly beginning to char, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Back to the couscous. Add the garlic, lemon zest and juice and stir well to coat, then add the dried cranberries, flaked almonds, parsley and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking – you may want to add more salt, pepper, lemon juice and/or ezra-virgin olive oil.
- If making the dressing, place the ingredients in a bowl, season generously with salt and pepper and mix well to combine. If the dressing is too thick for your liking, mix in more cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- To serve, dish the couscous out onto a platter or large plate. Top with the roasted purple sprouting broccoli and finish with the dressing, if using.
Notes
Note:
- The tahini dressing will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for 1 week. It may thicken as it sits. If it does, you can thin it out with a little bit of cold water as needed.
- The rest of the dish will keep nicely in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Not all tahini is created equal. Poor-quality tahini is thick, clumpy, gritty, and bitter. Good-quality tahini is smooth, pourable and balanced, not bitter. Where possible, I recommend avoiding supermarket own-brand tahini and opting for Middle-Eastern versions instead. Some of my favourite tahini brands are Baracke, Al Nakhil, Al Taj and Belazu.
This is so delicious (ummmmm can I drink a bath of this Tahini dressing) and surprisingly quick to throw together. Has become one of my go to recipes to impress or to meal prep for the week ahead and it always turns out perfect. Thank you Zena 🙂 🙂
So happy to hear it! It’s my absolute pleasure, Nicole 🙂
This is absolutely delicious and surprisingly quick to throw together. I could drink a bathtub of the tahini dressing. Has become my go-to recipe to impress a guest or as meal prep for my work lunches. One of my all time fave recipes 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Nicole! Thank you so much for you review 🙂 I’m so touched that it’s one of your all time favourite recipes!
Absolutely love this recipe! So delicious (could drink a bathtub of the tahini dressing!) and surprisingly quick together. Has become one of my favourite recipes to impress a guest and also works great for mealprep lunches. If you can’t find purple broccoli I have used regular broccoli and is equally delicious. Thanks zena
It’s my absolute pleasure! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂