Harissa chickpea couscous bowls
Fluffy couscous, smoky harissa chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes and parsley with plenty of lemon, a vegan lunch that’s ready in 20 minutes and keeps four days.
- 20 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.49 a serving
- 520 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: It’s ready in 20 minutes, start to finish.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 cup couscous
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp harissa
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
From your pantry
- 1¼ cups water
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
Each serving has about 520 calories, 20 g protein, 77 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $2.49 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No English cucumbers? Cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring the water and ¼ teaspoon salt in a small over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
in the couscous and 1 tablespoon oil, cover, take the pan off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: That’s all the cooking it needs. Couscous drinks up the water while you’re not looking.In a large bowl, the chickpeas with the harissa, lemon juice, the rest of the oil and the rest of the salt.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
the cucumber, the tomatoes, the onion and chop the parsley.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Fluff the couscous with a fork and spread it on a plate for a few minutes to cool.
the couscous and vegetables with the chickpeas, then divide among 4 containers.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: It keeps 4 days in the fridge. Eat it cold or at room temperature, with an extra squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop plans your lunches along with the week’s dinners, puts what you need on the same grocery list, and walks you through each step.
