Vegan Couscous Recipe With Chickpeas, Vegetables & Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Vegan Vegetables Grains Dinner Vegetarian

Here’s a dish inspired by an O’Charley’s side dish we had a few years ago. I figured I could make a reasonable facsimile thereof, and I was right. The easy vegetarian recipe is a combination of fresh vegetables, a roasted red pepper sauce and orzo.

This hearty recipe is vegan, too! I can’t get orzo where I live, so I substituted couscous instead. Try it over orzo pasta if you can get it!

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 jar (16 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (more to taste)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• small bunch of parsley (optional)
• 1 package (8 ounces) mushrooms, cut into small chunks
• 1 bag (10 ounces) “Super Blend” salad mix (brussels sprouts, Napa cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, carrots, kale)
• 1 can (14 ounces) chickpeas (garbanzos), drained
• 1 small box (5.8 ounces) couscous, prepared according to package directions (I use Near East)
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (if the mixture is too thick), optional

Here’s how to make it:

1. Process almonds in small blender or food processor. Add peppers, oil, garlic, salt, lemon juice and parsley. Blend until semi-thick and textured. (Add more almonds if you want it thicker.)
2. Sauté mushrooms, and then add in veggies and chickpeas. Cook until crisp-tender.
3. Add in pepper sauce and couscous. Add spaghetti sauce if it seems too thick.

Notes

• The sauce is freezable and can be kept in the refrigerator for a week.
• Use the sauce (without the added vegetables) for other veggies, meats, pizza, potatoes, etc.

Need help converting cooking and baking measurements? Here are some handy kitchen conversion charts.

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