Roasted Eggplant Couscous Salad

I have no groceries in the house, I haven’t cooked in about five days and I ate enough chocolate and drank enough “Skinny Girl Margaritas” over the weekend for each and every one of you!!

After a three day getaway to Palm Springs (first one since pre-Katie), this clean-eatin’ Mama needs to get her rear in gear.

Although I must admit, we had a blast!  It was Katie’s first time in a pool and boy-oh-boy did she have fun!  She makes everything more fun (well, her and a few Margarita’s).

SO don’t be surprised if the recipes are looking a little “extra clean” around here for a while because I’ve got a little “balancing” out to do!!

On to my salad….
Couscous is an ingredient that often gets confused as a grain because it kind of looks like a grain but COUSCOUS IS NOT A GRAIN.  COUSCOUS IS PASTA.  It’s just little itty bitty pieces of pasta.

So nutritionally speaking, whole wheat couscous is the equivalent of whole wheat pasta.  BUT what is so great about couscous is HOW FAST IT COOKS!!  It literally takes all of five minutes to make which is exactly why it is a Clean-Eating-Pantry-Staple!!  It’s perfect for those times when you are too hungover too busy to get to the grocery store and don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

This was one of those “bottom of the drawer” salads.  I used what I had on hand and it turned out deeelicios!

NOW, if you aren’t busy trying to “balance out” from a weekend full of chocolate, wine, and “Skinny-Girl-Margaritas” then you might want to add some feta cheese and Kalamata olives to this salad.  I think they would make a really great addition to this simple salad.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!!

Roasted Eggplant Couscous Salad

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Ingredients

1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch
cubes (about 4 cups)

1 onion, chopped up

2 bell peppers (I like to
use two different colors for visual appeal)

1.5 cups of whole-wheat
couscous

1 15-oz can of low sodium
chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp of capers, finely
chopped

1/3 cup thinly sliced
scallions

1/3 cup walnuts

The juice and zest of one
lemon

1 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Make couscous according to
the instructions on the box.

Place eggplant, onions, and
bell peppers in a large bowl and toss with 2 tsp of the olive oil, salt and
pepper.  Place on a rimmed baking
sheet and pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring half way through. 

Once the veggies have cooled
a bit, place them in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice, lemon zest,
capers, and chickpeas.  Add
couscous to the bowl and stir it all together.

Finish the dish with the
fresh chopped scallions and walnuts. 
Drizzle with one more teaspoon of olive oil right before serving.  Enjoy!!

Makes about ten 1-cup
servings.

Nutritional Analysis

Calories: 207; Total Fat: 5.5g; Saturated Fat:
0.5; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 121mg; Carbohydrate: 35.2; Dietary Fiber: 10.7;
Sugars: 2.2; Protein: 7.3g

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