Aubergine Carrot Couscous: Bazaar Cookbook Review
This spicy aubergine carrot couscous dish is simple to make and requires little effort. It’s ideal for a mid-week supper. Its also good cold the next day and perfect for lunchboxes. The recipe is from Bazaar: vibrant vegetarian recipes by Sabrina Ghayour. It’s packed with mostly Middle Eastern inspired recipes from a talented flavour enthusiast. Flick through the pages and you’ll find dishes both vibrant and exciting.
Sabrina Ghayour
At last we have the long awaited (by me at least) vegetarian cookbook from Sabrina Ghayour. Sabrina is a British-Iranian chef and has been cooking and writing about Persian and Middle Eastern food for many years. She already has three bestselling cookbooks: Persiana, Sirocco and Feasts. Bazaar is her fourth.
Before ever she published her first book in 2014, I was asking her for vegetarian recipes. It may have taken five years, but now we have some. And what a fabulous book it is, dedicated to cooking vegetables in an interesting and flavoursome way. It was worth the wait.
Bazaar
The subtitle, vibrant vegetarian recipes, says it all really. Bazaar is one beautiful book full of mouthwatering recipes that are jam packed with flavour. The title comes from the ancient Persian word for market. For me, this instantly conjures up a bustling square filled with all sorts of wonderful vegetables, colours and textures. I remember the amazing fruit and vegetable markets back in Alexandria and get excited by the very thought.
Although there are a few vegan recipes in the book, these are incidental. There’s plenty of cheese, butter and yoghurt to be had. The book is very much aimed at those who want to eat less meat and existing vegetarians who want to widen their repertoire.
Having said that, I chose to try a vegan recipe for this post: roasted aubergine carrot couscous. Aubergines are a favoured ingredient in the book and star in recipes such as aubergines in tomato & tamarind sauce and aubergine & caramelised kuku. I’m a recent convert to aubergines, or eggplants as they’re also known, so I was delighted to get a few more ideas on how to cook this beautiful glossy vegetable.
Book Chapters
The book begins with a chapter on my favourite way of eating, Light Bites & Sharing Plates. Carrot, halloumi & dill balls has my name written all over them. I really must see if I can wangle a dinner invite from Sabrina. Now wouldn’t that be something?
Although recipes are mostly inspired by the Middle East, Sabrina’s is obviously influenced by her Britishness too. This comes out in recipes such as feta & spring onion-stuffed potato skins and potato crisps with spiced salt & lime.
There’s a whole chapter dedicated to Eggs & Dairy. I was excited to see that one of my favourite cheeses, halloumi, plays a starring role. I suspect I’m not alone in this. Yes, those grilled halloumi flatbreads with preserved lemon & barberry salsa will be appearing on my table in the not too distant future.
Kuku is an Iranian egg dish similar to an Italian frittata. There are two kuku recipes in this chapter. The one I found particularly interesting was for kale & cabbage kuku with pine nuts. Again, you get a fusion of flavours to excite the palate.
Other chapters cover: Soups & Bowl Comfort, Pies, Breads & Pastries, Salads for all Seasons, Moreish Mains, Store-Cupboard Sustenance, Spectacular Sides and Sweet Treats. Soups are a staple fare for us, so I was delighted to see a really hearty recipe for rice & vegetable aash with puy lentils.
Aash is a Persian staple, which Sabrina says is “the best comfort food on a cold day and a virtuous enough to be the perfect meal all year round”. Other recipes that jumped out at me were: blackberry, beetroot & za’atar goats’ cheese salad, harissa black bean ragout and roast vegetable bastilla, which is a Moroccan pastry pie.
What I Particularly Liked About The Book
Bazaar is very much my sort of book. I loved leafing through the recipes, reading the ingredients and gazing at the gorgeous photos. Readers will find plenty of inspiration and some surprises. I was not expecting beetroot halva tart for example. What fun. Oh, how I wish CT didn’t have an aversion to beetroot.
The recipes are big hearted, both in style and substance. They’re varied, colourful and have plenty of bold flavours. Everything seems very doable which is home cooking at its best. I want to eat every single recipe in the book and I want to try cooking most of them too.
Middle Eastern food is one of my favourite cuisines. But many of Sabrina’s recipes are a fusion of flavours and foods, combining influences from Persia, the Middle East, The East and dear old Britain. This makes the recipes particularly exciting. How about a classic British macaroni cheese getting a face lift as a feta, pul biber & oregano macaroni bake? It sounds good to me.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the embedded bookmark. I do like a cookbook that comes with a ribbon to mark your place. It should be compulsory to have at least one, three would be even better. This bookmark in a stylish yellow which matches the yellow on the front cover.
What Could Be Better
Really, I don’t have much to say on how to improve this book. It is perhaps a bit London centric. The ingredients are mostly ones that are easy to get hold of. However, there are a few that come up in several of the recipes that I suspect are hard to source outside of London and the big cities.
I have no idea where to buy pul biber chilli flakes, for example. A page at the back of the book with some advice on sourcing the less common ingredients would help.
I’ve only made one recipe so far. Based on that recipe, I would say that Bazaar is best suited to those who are looking for inspiration rather than to novice cooks. I needed to add twice the amount of water stated in the recipe. That wasn’t an issue for me, but it might well be for someone who hasn’t cooked with couscous before.
Publisher Details
Bazaar: vibrant vegetarian recipes / Sabrina Ghayour. Published by Mitchell Beazley in hardback with an RRP of £26. ISBN – 9781784725174.
Roasted Aubergine Carrot Couscous
Roasted aubergine carrot couscous is a nice simple recipe that requires relatively little effort to prepare. I do like these sorts of recipes. You roast the aubergine and carrots in the oven, whilst the remaining ingredients gently steam in a pan. It’s then just a case of combining the two and adding a few herbs and seasoning.
The recipe calls for dill. I couldn’t find any anywhere. We used to grow it down on the plot and oh, how I miss it. Now we’re getting our new garden into shape, I think I’ll try growing some again next year. I reckon dill would be a lovely addition to the roasted aubergine carrot couscous, but I had to make do with double quantities of parsley instead.
In the end, I made only half of the recipe. It was more than enough to feed two of us for dinner. I only had one aubergine, but it was a large (ish) one, so I used more carrots than the recipe stated and roasted them both in the same tray.
Naughtily, I added a leek to the roasting veg. This is because we had one lurking in the veg rack. And I’d only have had to throw it away if I didn’t use it immediately. As you know, I can’t bear waste. I also only used half a preserved lemon, as that was all I had. The flavour still came through loud and clear though, so I was happy with that amount.
There was plenty there to fill us up and enough for CT to take to work the next day in a lunchbox. He said it was nearly as good cold as it was hot the previous night.
Other Aubergine Recipes You Might Like
- Aubergine dip (no tahini)
- Aubergine yakitori
- Baba ganoush
- Barley bowl with spiced aubergine, chickpeas and tomatoes
- Roasted Mediterranean vegetables
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you get hold of Bazaar* or try this recipe for aubergine carrot couscous, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on your preferred social media site and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Aubergine Carrot Couscous. PIN IT.
Roasted Aubergine Carrot Couscous – The Recipe
Roasted Aubergine & Carrot Couscous with Preserved Lemon
Ingredients
- 4 aubergine (eggplant) diced into 2.5 cm cubes
- extra virgin olive oil
- 6 small carrots cut into batons
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 300 g couscous
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 plump cloves of garlic crushed
- 450 ml hot water I used nearly twice this amount
- 4-5 preserved lemons finely chopped
- 1 small bunch dill (30g) finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of parsley (30g) finely chopped
- sea salt flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220℃ (425℉, Gas 7). Line a large baking tray with baking paper, plus a smaller one.
- Place the aubergines into the largest tray. Season with pepper and drizzle over a generous amount of olive oil. Place the tray on a higher oven shelf. Add the carrots to the smaller tray and season with salt, pepper and the oregano. Place on a lower shelf in the oven. Roast both for 25-30 minutes. The aubergine should be cooked through and brown and the carrots cooked and charred around the edges.4 aubergine (eggplant), extra virgin olive oil, 6 small carrots, 2 tsp dried oregano
- Place the cumin seeds in a large saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Toast the them over a medium-high heat for 1 minute – without the lid. Add the couscous and allow to toast briefly. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the other spices, garlic, hot water, salt and pepper. Cover and set aside for 8-10 minutes to allow the grains to absorb the liquid.2 tsp cumin seeds, 300 g couscous, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 plump cloves of garlic, 450 ml hot water, sea salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper
- Once the liquid has been absorbed, use a fork to carefully fluff up the couscous. Add the roasted veg, the preserved lemon and herbs, then fold carefully together. Return to the heat briefly, if needed, and serve hot.4-5 preserved lemons, 1 small bunch dill, 1 small bunch of parsley
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m sharing this recipe for roasted aubergine carrot couscous with A Strong Coffee for #CookBlogShare.
Disclaimer
Thanks to Octopus Books for the copy of Bazaar: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes which they sent me to review. I was not expected to write a positive review and all opinions are, as always, my own.
This post contains affiliate links which are marked with an *. If you buy through a link, it won’t cost you any more, but I’ll get a small commission. Thanks to my readers for supporting the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
I’m with you all the way on Sabrina’s recipes! I know this is an older post, but if you haven’t discovered a source of Pul Biber yet & for future readers, Wessex Wholefoods at:
http://www.healthysupplies.co.uk are a really good source fir just about anything & offer both organic & not and from quite small quantities to up to 2+ Kilos. To reduce haulage impact I buy larger quantities of their dried good, which keep well & allows me to order smaller quantities of spices to use fresh & in full flavour.
Posting your carrot jam recipe has had me venturing all over your site today, reminding me of favourite recipes I’d not cooked for quite a while Thanks so much for your frequent enticing mail-outs & for giving us do much tasty cooking & baking fun & enjoyment.
Ah, thank you Pat. Yes, I know use bul biber regularly. I get mine from Steenbergs, which sells mostly organic spices.
Falafel, because its delicious and easy to prepare and cook
I love a good salad, so one of my favourites is a Fattoush salad. Lots of options to change this up with whatever you have in the fridge.
You can never go wrong with (home-made) Hummous and Falafel, I know that’s not the traditional way but I could eat just those two without anything else!
I really like Lebanese food – it lends itself really well to vegetarianism and it is not too hot and spicy.
I love Middle Eastern food. My fave has to be hummus, flatbread and falafel
I like couscous salad with just spices, aubergine and with sultanas thrown in.
Felafel, I love it, freshly cooked and crispy on the outside. So delicious
I love couscous – so many things you can do with it and can be made in moments – great when you have unexpected guests
Falafel and flatbreads with Baba Ganoush and hummus are my favs. Still a bit hit or miss whether the homemade versions are 100% successful
I’m a massive fan of hummous. There’s loads of great veggie middle Eastern food, mmmmm!
Aash, the thick Persian soups, are the most exciting and inspiring veggie friendly Middle Eastern food I have read about recently. Some use unexpected or exotic flavours such as pomegranate, but they all offer so many ways to use health giving ingredients such as pulses, grains, herbs, spices and vegetables. Soups and stews are great for busy lives and these ones are unusual, delicious and good for you!
I saw one of those stews on Nigel Slater’s recent Middle Eastern series on the BBC. It looks very inviting indeed.
Houmous and chargrilled spiced veg, with lots of of salad all crammed into a flatbread – amazing!!
I love a nice mezze spread with homemade flatbread and lots of dips and salads. My favourite vegetable is aubergine so middle eastern food is perfect.
I love hummus because you can add so many different ingredients to it so it never becomes boring.
My dad lives in the middle east – as a veggie it’s so easy to eat there! I love aubergine, it has such a nice texture in meat-free dishes. I also love a good quality extra virgin olive oil – they use that so much in cooking and dips and you can really taste the difference!
There’s nothing quite like being in the Middle East to experience the food. It’s so very good, especially when prepared by a home cook.
Pita bread! I actually eat it every day, I’m a bit obsessed lol because it’s so versatile – you can stuff it with just about anything you can think of (including hummus…) or dip it in things (including hummus…) and it’s delicious warm, cold, toasted….
Not Middle eastern but my favourite veggie dish is butternut squash curry, it is the first dish where I can honestly say I don’t mins meat!
Oh, I’m with you on squash curry. I fell in love with it when CT first made it for me many many years ago!
I love hummus – it can be plain and simple or jazzed up with spices or peppers – depending on your mood.
Hummus sure is wonderful stuff. We usually have a pot in the fridge.
I once made a Persian rice cake which was absolutely delicious. I love it because it’s like a big savoury cake that you can slice up.
That sounds wonderful. I love the tahdig you get with Persian rice.
Flatbreads with exciting dips like Baba ganoush and hummus are always delicious!
I love home made hummus with a squeeze of lemon with flatbread and Greek salad
For me it personally has to be flatbread it tastes so good especially with some humus on it and i love eating it so much!
Oh, nice one. Good flatbread is so delicious.
I am always up for a new vegetarian or vegan cookbook, esp. one that promises world flavours.
Good ones are very hard to resist. The problem is in finding room to put them.
Really can’t say I’ve cooked many of these dishes – made moussaka – beautiful recipes to try
i havent eaten many Middle Eastern vegetarian food but would like to try some reciepes
This dish really sounds delightful! Love middle eastern recipes!
Middle Eastern cuisine is a firm favourite with me. It’s full of flavour and really quite versatile.
I love cous cous with spices and roasted vegetabes
It sounds like this aubergine carrot couscous might just be for you then Hayley.
This looks absolutely delicious. I keep meaning to make some couscous to have with salads now the weather is getting warmer. Thanks for sharing #cookblogshare
Hooray for salad weather and couscous sounds like a lovely accompaniment.
Falafel served with pitta bread and hummus is a delicious meal!
I love Ful, especially with freshly-baked flat breads. My preference is for the Egyptian recipe which has quite a lot of cumin, but I also like other versions as well.
I’ve been thinking for I while that it’s about time I put up a recipe for Egyptian ful mesdames on the blog. And you’re so right Egyptians do love their cumin.
cous cous as as well as being filling it`s a very flexible ingredient in terms of cooking and what to pair it with
And so easy to prepare too. Always a plus in my book.
Baba Ganoush. If you’ve never had it before, then you’re in for a treat! It’s basically a dip made from cooked aubergine mixed with tahini, olive oil and a variety of seasonings. The end product is a deliciously rich, smoky dip that’s incredibly creamy and moreish.
Hehe, I used to hate baba ganoush. But now I’m had an aubergine epiphany, I guess I ought to try it again.
I love Persian spiced lentils with roasted aubergine. I make it all the time and even my kids devour it!
That sounds delicious indeed Kate. Lentils are wonderful things and I’m beginning to find that so are aubergines.
My favourite Middle Eastern food has to be falafel – the proper home made ones not the dry ready made ones from the supermarket
Or even better, the proper deep-fried ones found on street corners throughout the Middle East.
Flatbreads served with dips such as Hummus and aubergine dip because they are tasty and simple to prepare.
Yes, simple is fab. Especially if you have a really good flatbread.
Like aubergine – would like to find a way of cooking it without a lot of oil though x
I like hummus as it’s easy to prepare and you can totally jazz it up with different flavours.
Hummus is wonderful stuff for sure and as you say, quite versatile.
I love Middle Eastern recipes and I tend to make hummus a lot and falafels and various variations of them. I’ve got one book already by Sabrina Ghayour and love the recipes in it!
Ooh, which one of Sabrina’s books do you have? I’ve heard a lot about her first one Persiana. Hummus and falafel are both staples with us too.
I like couscous salad with just herbs and spices and with perhaps sultanas thrown in.
I love Middle Eastern food, veggie friendly or not. We’ve been known to go out for a Lebanese meal and not realise until we were on the way home that neither of us had ordered any meat dishes, there’s so much variety in the non-meat ones. For preparing at home, though, it has to be hummus, it’s so quick and easy and there’s always a tin of chickpeas in the cupboard so it feels like a free meal because I don’t have to shop for it.
Middle Eastern food is really good for vegetarians, especially if you have a meze style spread. But I have to agree hummus is one of the best.
It looks really tasty and the book sounds really a keeper!
Yes, it’s a good recipe and so easy to make. I shall definitely be keeping the book.
You can’t beat a good meze with Baba Ganoush, Hummous, Falafel and home made Manoushe flatbreads – flavoursome, healthy and most of all, it is compulsory to go back for seconds, and thirds, and …
I haven’t had much experience at cooking or eating Middle Eastern vegetarian food but I can’t wait to get started with this recipe. I have recently converted to a vegetable based diet and the flavours and textures delivered in Middle Eastern food excite me. I have been enjoying a wonderful braised spiced rice with roasted aubergine recipe given to me recently. Thanks for the comprehensive review, I’m delighted to come across your blog, I will be following avidly!
Thanks Sarah. Middle Eastern food is wonderful for vegetarians and vegans. It has so many interesting flavours and ingredients.
Haha, I’m with you all the way on meze – love it.
Houmous, it’s quick to prepare and very tasty
Hummus really is the bees knees isn’t it? It’s delicious in it’s own right and goes well with so many other foods.