Moroccan-Inspired Fruity Couscous with Chickpeas {Vegan Friendly}

This Moroccan-Inspired fruity couscous with chickpeas is so delicious and full of flavour. It's a really healthy dish that makes a lovely light lunch or a side with roast chicken or lamb. It's quick and easy to make and tastes even better the day after it's made. It's also suitable for vegan and dairy-free diets.

You can mix up the dried fruit if you like. Dried cranberries work well but they're quite sweet so just tone down the honey. It's quite a sweet dish so needs a good squeeze of lemon at the end to balance it out. Pomegranate seeds and fresh coriander are not essential, but they do make this dish extra special. 

---

Moroccan-Inspired Couscous with Chickpeas & Apricots

• Hands On Time: 15 minutes
• Cooking Time: 8 minutes
• Serves: 4 as a main or 8 as a side

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 tsp ras el hanout seasoning/spice mix (find this with the herbs and spices in the supermarket, give the jar a good shake before use)
• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas - drained & rinsed 
• 100g dried apricots, chopped
• 100g dried sultanas
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1-2 tbsp honey (to taste)
• 350ml boiling water or stock
• 200g couscous
• Juice of 1 lemon (to taste) plus extra to serve if you like
• Fresh coriander & pomegranate seeds to serve (optional)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan and fry the onions for about 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the peppers and cook for a further 3 minutes to give them a bit of colour. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. If it starts to stick add a splash of boiling water to the pan and mix well.
2. Add the ras el hanout seasoning and stir through the onion and peppers. Add the chickpeas, chopped apricots, sultanas, tomato puree and honey to taste. Give everything a really good stir so it's well mixed. Finally stir through the cous cous and pour over the water or stock.
3. Use a spoon to flatten the ingredients in the pan a little to ensure the cous cous is as submerged as possible. Pop a lid on the pan, turn off the heat and leave it to stand for 8 minutes. 
4. Use a fork to fluff everything up and squeeze over lemon juice to taste