During college, I studied in France for a semester. It was the best decision I could have made. With no cell phone, credit card, or computer—does anyone even remember those days?—my time in France shaped me into the cook I am today. With only $800 for four months, I made sure that every week I could consume three chocolate croissants, imperial rolls at the best Vietnamese place, and lunch at my favorite Tunisian restaurant for couscous. That dish was an incredibly fragrant, brothy, spiced tomato stew of root vegetables served over a fluffy bed of couscous with chicken or merguez sausage on top. Thirty years later, I can still taste it. You can serve meat with this version if you’d like, of course, but it’s absolutely delicious without it.
Key Ingredients
- Vegetables: red onion, parsnips, turnips, and carrots.
- Garbanzo beans: also known as chickpeas, these beans add heartiness to the dish.
- Spices: curry powder, ground turmeric, ground cumin, and cinnamon all add a ton of flavor to this dish.
- Cooked couscous: for serving.
- Fresh parsley and harissa for garnishing and serving, if you’d like!
Storage tips
To store these vegetables and beans, let them cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
More dinner recipes you’ll love
This recipe fro Moroccan-Spiced Root Vegetables with Couscous is one of my favorite recipes from my latest book, Homemade Simple: Effortless Dishes for a Busy Life. For more recipes like this one, grab your copy today!
Moroccan-Spiced Root Vegetables with Couscous
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion diced
- Kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 parsnips peeled and diced
- 1 turnip peeled and diced
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup raisins
- Cooked couscous for serving
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- Harissa for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the tomato paste has turned brick red in color, about 1 minute. Add the diced parsnips, turnip, and carrots and stir to coat them with the spices. Add the stock and crushed tomatoes and bring the vegetables to a simmer. Add the cinnamon stick, cover, and reduce the heat to low to simmer gently. Cook until the vegetables have softened and the flavors have melded, about 30 minutes.
- Stir in the garbanzo beans and raisins and let them sit in the broth for 10 minutes to plump before serving.
- To serve, discard the cinnamon stick. Divide the couscous among bowls, then top with the vegetables and some of the broth. Sprinkle each serving with parsley. Serve with harissa alongside, if you like.
