When the craving for ooey, gooey roasted eggplant hits, this roasted eggplant and tomato couscous delivers. Roasting eggplant brings out its best depth of flavor and pairing it with oven-burst tomatoes is an easy match. Pile that combo on top of 5-minute couscous, add a scoop of labneh and some fresh torn basil leaves and you have dinner on the table with minimal mess to clean up. That’s my kind of comfort food.
Eggplant are Plants
Did you know eggplants are actually a fruit? They grow on a plant and they start as a flower, so that makes them a fruit though it seems like the would be a vegetable.
Either way, if you want to get more plants in your diet, eggplants count. Eggplant and tomato couscous is a perfect dish that highlights the luxury of oven-roasted eggplants.
Getting more eggplant in your diet should be easy because it’s just plain delicious. This is one of the best plants to add to your routine if you want more fiber. Eggplants are also full of antioxidants.
If you have a home garden, you already know that eggplant is a late summer plant. Fortunately, eggplant from the grocery is one of the few produce items that is pretty much as good as garden grown (especially once you roast it).
If I see a perfectly shiny small eggplant in the store, eggplant and tomato couscous is now my go-to recipe.
Oven Burst Tomatoes
I know there are some people out there (like my bff Kim) who are appalled by cooked tomatoes. I am not one of them, and I actually prefer my tomatoes roasted unless they are vine-ripe and directly from the garden.
IMO, store bought tomatoes don’t have any flavor. Not even close to the joy of a fresh garden tomato, even if you buy heirlooms.
These days, you can rarely find cherry tomatoes at all. Grape tomatoes are pretty much the only option, and those are genetically modified to be tougher so that they don’t get damaged during transport to your store. Tougher and tasteless.
That’s why I choose to roast them for eggplant and tomato couscous. It amps up the flavor as much as you can get from a mediocre grocery store product.
Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce
One of the best ways to use roasted tomatoes is in a quick pasta sauce. Check out the recipe for roasted cherry tomato pasta sauce which is just a tray full of cherry tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil slathered in good olive oil and roasted before being dumped over fresh pasta.
This photo shows the sauce dresses with a little basil pesto, creamy goat cheese and more fresh basil. Finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil.
Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Couscous – One Tray Meal
For the eggplant and tomato couscous dish, you’ll roast the eggplant and grape tomatoes together on a baking sheet with a sliced clove of garlic and some optional lemon zest. Option to add some marinated chickpeas towards the end of baking for a extra protein.
If you want to use the chickpeas, I recommend marinating them for a few hours in olive oil and some dry spices like oregano or cumin so that they have some flavor. Roasting plain chickpeas leaves them pretty bland.
5 Minute Couscous
I serve this eggplant and tomato over couscous instead of pasta. Couscous is the easiest thing in the world to make and perfect for busy weeknights. Just add some dry Moroccan couscous directly to your serving bowl. Pour an equal amount of boiling water over it and cover with a kitchen towel while the rest of your dinner bakes.
Fluff with a fork just before adding the eggplant and tomato mixture.
Hooray for Labneh
If you’ve been exploring any of my New Year’s Reset recipes, you’ve already heard about my obsession with labneh. This decadent yogurt/cheese condiment works perfectly with eggplant and tomato couscous.
If you don’t have access to labneh (a crime) you can put a scoop of plain Greek yogurt on the side or crumble some fresh goat cheese on top.
Ooey, Gooey Eggplant
There’s nothing more to say about this simple eggplant and tomato couscous recipe, so let’s just get the juices flowing with a few tantalizing pictures of ooey, gooey eggplant.
Mouth watering yet? Good. Let’s jump to the eggplant and tomato couscous recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 small eggplant
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsp lemon zest, optional
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup labneh
- 2 tbsp fresh torn basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Cut your eggplant into 1-inch pieces and place on one half of a baking sheet. Dump the grape tomatoes on the other half. Scatter the thinly sliced garlic over the tomatoes. Drizzle the entire sheet with about 3 tbsp of olive oil, using about 2 tbsp for the eggplant and 1 tbsp for the tomatoes/garlic. Use your hands to combine and coat the eggplant evenly. Repeat with the tomatoes and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper. Zest 2 tsp of lemon over the top, mainly on the tomatoes (optional). Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until tomatoes have burst and eggplant is perfectly gooey.
- When the tomatoes and eggplant are almost done, place 1/2 cup of Moroccan couscous (not pearled) in a serving dish. Microwave 1/2 cup of water for about a minute and a half or until it just starts to boil. Carefully pour the boiling water over the couscous and swirl the dish to make sure all the grains are wet. Cover the dish with a kitchen towel and set aside for 5 minutes then fluff the couscous with a fork.
- Once the eggplant is perfectly gooey, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Carefully dump the contents of the baking sheet onto your couscous. Garnish with fresh torn basil and a scoop of labneh on the side.
