Oh my love for Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden. I love cookbooks and if you’ve talked to me about cooking (which I’ve probably forced you to at some point if we’re friends) over the last couple years, I probably brought up this book. I love it. Joshua’s understanding of ingredients from the ground up and his ability to highlight vegetables with simple everyday ingredients is phenomenal. It has inspired me so much along my cooking journey and I will sing its praises for the rest of time (and give it to all my family and friends as gifts for the foreseeable future).
This couscous with roasted beets and carrots recipe is a rendition of a dish that Joshua features in Six Seasons. I’ve simplified it a little by reducing the dressing ingredients as well as added my own flair to it. The original recipe calls for feta. I love feta and it was wonderful with feta, but I wanted to try to make it vegan while also adding a boost of protein to make it a heartier meal so I got this idea. What if I made a white bean puree and used the flavors of feta (salty, briney) to inspire the flavors of the puree. It worked out even better than planned and paired so well alongside the couscous with roasted beets and carrots. This dish comes together quickly and the colors of the dish are stunning!
Now do yourself a favor and go order Six Seasons and his new book, Grains for Every Season, that was just released on October 12. I preordered mine months ago and can’t wait until it comes in!
Couscous with Roasted Beets and Carrots with a Whipped White Bean Puree
Course: Main, SidedishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes30
minutesIngredients
- Couscous and Vegetables
1 ½ cups of Pearl couscous
1 lb beets, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into thick circles
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 orange, juiced
1 T white wine vinegar
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon of red chili flakes
- Whipped White Bean Puree
1.5 cups (1 can) of cooked navy beans
1 T nutritional yeast
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried dill
Salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Boil 2 cups of water. Once boiling, add couscous, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes until water is absorbed (or cook according to your package instructions).
- Toss beets with 1 T olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place beets on baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes in preheated oven.
- Toss carrots and onion with 1 T olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes. Once the beets have cooked for 10 minutes, add carrots and onions and toss to combine. Roast for additional 10-15 minutes until starting to brown and soften.
- Place all white bean purée ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust as needed.
- Once vegetables are roasted and the couscous is finished, combine couscous and roasted veggies in large a bowl. Add juice of one orange, 1 T white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Mix in chopped cilantro.
- Serve on top of white bean purée. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you’d rather use feta, you could crumble it and toss it with the couscous and vegetables like you see in the photographed version of this dish. Or you could make a whipped feta (like this one: https://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/how-to-make-amazing-whipped-feta/) and serve the couscous on top of it like you would the bean puree.
- If you have other vegetables to use up in the fridge, this is a very versatile dish and can be used with many roasted vegetables.
- If you don’t have an orange on hand for the couscous, substitute for lemon juice. You may need to add 1-2 lemons worth of juice.
There is no mention of the onion and red chili flakes in the directions.
Great catch! I just updated the recipe to include both of those ingredients. Thank you for the feedback! I hope you enjoy!