As usual, this recipe came about by accident, from me throwing a few things together in a tray, and the result coming out unexpectedly well! I fancied something with a bit of spice, though not hot, and plenty of veg and lean protein to fight off the cold I’ve felt coming this week! I love traybake style recipes. They are easy to make, tasty, and in this case, healthy too! Making vegetables a large part of the meal means it’s filling without eating a large amount of high calorie food. Spray oil is also an absolute lifesaver in making these kinds of recipes healthier and still tasty!
The rose harissa powder really is the star of this dish, and I have to confess it’s one of may favourite ingredients at the moment. It adds interest to the vegetables and fish, creating layers of flavour with very little effort from me, as the spices are already blended in just the right ratios for me! My favourite blend is from mail order spice company Fox’s Spices (find them on Facebook), though you can also buy a harissa spice blend from Sainsbury’s and Amazon (and I’m sure other places will do one too!). The key though, is to use the spice blend not the paste, to help save on the calories and also because the flavours can be quite different between the two.
The other thing to watch out for in this recipe is the stock pot. Any vegetable stock cube or stock pot should work, though I tend to find that the stock pots taste better! Just look for a good quality one that’s low in salt.
Harissa fish & vegetable traybake with couscous recipe
Serves 2, cooking time 40 minutes
Ingredients:
300g courgettes
1 large red bell pepper
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
16 cherry tomatoes
250g skinless & boneless cod fillets
1 calorie spray oil
2 tsp rose harissa powder
1 tsp mixed herbs
100g couscous
1 vegetable stock pot
Salt & black pepper
How to cook:
Preheat the oven to 180˚.
Wash and cut the courgettes and pepper into 3cm chunks. Cut the onion into wedges.
Peel the garlic cloves and crush slightly with the flat edge of the knife, but leave whole.
Add the courgettes, peppers, onions and garlic cloves to a roasting tray. Sprinkle over 1 tsp of the harissa powder, the herbs and spray 10 times with the spray oil.
Mix to coat the vegetables in the spices, herbs and oil. Spray another 5 times over the top.
Roast for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and carefully lay the fish fillets and the cherry tomatoes on top of the veg.
Sprinkle the remaining harissa powder over the fish and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and spray another 10 times with the spray oil.
Roast for another 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through, depending on the thickness of your fillets.
While the fish is roasting, boil the kettle, and add the couscous and stock pot to a bowl.
Pour over enough boiling water to generously cover the couscous. It should be a couple of millimetres over the couscous.
Stir well to melt the stock pot, season with black pepper and leave to stand for the couscous to soak up the stock and swell.
Serve the fish and vegetables over a layer of the couscous and enjoy!
