Spring Vegetable Skewers and Saffron Couscous

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Spring Vegetable Skewers and Saffron Couscous is an easy meatless meal that comes together in less than 30 minutes! At least once a week I try to make a simple, no frills vegetarian dinner.  I clear out the extra veggies that have accumulated in the fridge, and I usually roast them, or stir fry them up and eat them with eggs, or something like that.  But you know what?   This is just as easy, and looks so much more appetizing.  It’s the vegetarian version of my salmon and cherry tomato skewers from last week.  I’m getting hooked on this easy way to make a quick meal.  This time I served the skewers on top of a simple saffron couscous. I used cherry tomatoes, colorful bell peppers, mushrooms, baby eggplant and zucchini, baby artichokes, some radicchio and red onion.  I think I even put on a couple of leftover stalks of asparagus.  Nothing required any special prep, except maybe the baby artichokes, which I rubbed with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Everything is bite sized, so the skewers take just 15 minutes in a hot oven.  I drizzled them with olive oil and lemon, and gave them …

Ingredients

• skewers
• cherry tomatoes
• colorful bell peppers
• cremini mushrooms
• baby zucchini
• baby eggplant
• baby artichokes
• radicchio
• red onion
• asparagus
• olive oil ((divided))
• juice of lemon
• salt and fresh cracked pepper
• saffron couscous
• 1 cup couscous
• 1¼ cups water
• 2 tbsp olive oil ((divided))
• 1 tsp saffron threads
• ½ tsp salt

Method

1. Set oven to 450F
2. Peel the tough outer leaves from the baby artichoke, cut off the stem and halve it. Rub lemon juice on the cut edges to keep it from browning.
3. Cut the rest of the vegetables in bite sized pieces. Leave the cherry tomatoes whole. Thread the veggies onto skewers.
4. Lay out the skewers on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. This will help with clean-up later.
5. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil and lemon, then sprinkle liberally with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
6. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes until everything is tender and the tomatoes are starting to burst.
7. To make the couscous ~ add the olive oil and salt to the water and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and add the saffron, crumbling the threads with your fingers as you add it. Stir and let it steep for a few minutes.
8. Bring the water to a boil, add the couscous and stir well. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Fluff and serve.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island