Warm Autumn Vegetable Couscous Salad
This Warm Autumn Vegetable Couscous Salad captures everything we love about the fall season: roasted root vegetables and golden couscous drenched in a bright, maple, Dijon, and apple cider vinegar dressing that's tangy and just sweet enough to still feel savory. It’s cozy yet vibrant, hearty yet healthy, and celebrates all that autumn has to offer
Ingredients
Vegetables:
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- ½ butternut squash peeled, seeds removed, diced
- 1 delicata, acorn, or honeynut squash seeds removed, diced (peel the honeynut squash only)
- 1 sweet potato peeled and diced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Couscous:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups pearl/Israeli couscous (can sub orzo)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin optional
- 3 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley optional, for garnish
Maple Mustard Dressing:
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Dice the carrots, squashes, and sweet potato into bite-sized pieces, keeping them roughly the same size for even roasting.
- Season and roast the vegetables. Add the vegetables to the baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, cinnamon, and garlic, then toss to coat. Roast for 35–45 minutes, or until fork-tender and caramelized at the edges.
- Make the couscous. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook another 3 minutes. Cook the couscous according to package instructions (mine calls for boiling water first, so I added the cold water to the pot with onions and garlic and boiled from there). Add the salt, cinnamon turmeric, and cumin (if using) when adding the couscous.
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, pepper, and orange zest (if using). Whisk for about 20 seconds until smooth and emulsified. Give this a taste, and adjust for more apple cider vinegar, mustard, or maple syrup as desired.
- Combine and serve. Add the roasted vegetables to the cooked couscous, pour the dressing over, and toss well to combine. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve warm or refrigerate to serve cooled.
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