Prepare to veg out.
It's January: that lovely time of year when everyone, from magazine editors to gym trainers, tries to pressure us into reinventing ourselves through tons of crazy diet and workout programs. And many of us, feeling nutritionally wasted after the holidays and seeking to restore personal balance, listen to them.
I’m always in favor of personal balance—I am a Libra, after all—but trying to rebalance myself through crazy unbalanced methods has always seemed a little silly and counter-productive to me. So, rather than trying to rebalance myself through extreme methods like restrictive dieting, I’m choosing to focus instead on all the beautiful healthy fruits and vegetables available to us and all the delicious ways we can prepare them. Last week’s Winter Bean Bruschetta was a quiet entry into this January Veg Out theme, but this week’s recipe is loud, proud, and in your face:
Roasted Vegetable Couscous Wraps.
Jammy roasted vegetables resting on a bed of steaming couscous, all rolled up in a neat collard green pocket. Bursting with slices of juicy sweet pepper and rich savory eggplant, and studded with pockets of salty feta and fresh basil, this vegetarian wrap is an absolute flavor bomb! It’s a quick, easy on-the-go lunch option (if the veg, couscous, and collards are prepped in advance, you can assemble a wrap in less than two minutes!) but it’s equally as delicious in the evening, as the rich, umami of the roasted veg make for a deeply satisfying dinner.
Now, let’s talk collard green wraps. I’m sure at least one person out there is already shaking their head. I can sympathize. I’ve eaten a lot of bad collard green wraps before, all of them purchased from “healthy” grab-and-go chains. But where restaurant-produced wraps were super tough and tasteless, I found that the homemade versions could be tender, flavorful, and pretty darn delicious! The key is to shave down the fibrous spines before cooking the leaves in SUPER SALTY boiling water and shocking them immediately after in an ice bath. This way, you’ll have tender, properly seasoned collard greens with great texture and color that are both easy to wrap and delicious to eat!
Whether you’re searching for a physical reboot to start of the year or hoping to step up your vegetable cooking, I hope you try these Roasted Vegetable Couscous Wraps! Yes, they’re veg-forward. Yes, they’re healthy. And yes, they even embrace the recent collard green wrap trend. But the bottom line is that they’re also delicious and they will make you happy eating them. When it comes to food, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Enjoy!
Roasted Vegetable Couscous Wraps
(Makes 8)
For the roasted vegetables:
2 red peppers, quartered lengthwise and seeded
1 ½ red onion, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
¾ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided
½ eggplant, cut into ½-inch-thick slices and then quartered
1 zucchini, cut into ½-inch-thick slices
½ tsp dried oregano
For the couscous:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp dried oregano
1 cup couscous
For the wraps:
8 large collard green leaves
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
To assemble:
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼- ½ cup basil, shredded
1 lemon, halved
Method
For the roasted vegetables:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Toss pepper halves and sliced red onion with 1 tbsp oil; sprinkle with ¼ tsp kosher salt. Arrange peppers on half of the baking tray, skin-side up, and onions on the other side. Roast until onions are brown and jammy, about 25 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and transfer onions to a large bowl; reserve. Continue to roast peppers until browned and charred on top, about 10 minutes more. Transfer peppers to a smaller bowl and cover; steam until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Peel off skins and discard, then slice peppers into ½-inch-wide strips and place in the bowl with the onions.
Toss the eggplant and zucchini slices with 3 tbsp oil, ½ tsp oregano and ½ tsp kosher salt. Spread out on a baking sheet. Roast until browned and caramelized, about 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from the oven and toss eggplant and zucchini slices into the bowl with the onions and peppers.
For the couscous:
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and ¼ tsp kosher salt and saute until almost translucent, about 3-4 minutes; add garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant. Add couscous, ¾ tsp kosher salt, and 1 ¼ cup water and bring to a boil. Cover, remove the pan from the heat, and steam until water is absorbed, 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff.
For the collard green wraps:
Chop off the stems from the collard green leaves and, with a paring knife, shave off the edges of the spines so the collard green leaves lay flat.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove. Make sure you add enough salt—it should taste like the ocean. While the water is heating, create an ice bath by filling a bowl halfway-full of ice and adding cold water so the ice cubes float.
Blanch the collard green leaves by dropping them into the simmering water for 1 minute, then removing and dunking them immediately into the ice bath to cool. Remove from the ice bath as soon as they are cool to the touch. Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
To assemble:
Place a scoop of couscous and a scoop of roasted vegetables in the center of a collard green wrap. Add a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle with feta and basil, then roll up like a burrito. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Originally posted January 10, 2021.
Comentários