Cous cous, roasted pumpkin and fetta salad

This is a great dish for those health conscious folk out there.  Super tasty, light but surprisingly filling with some yummy flavors to keep your tastebuds interested.

I used barley cous cous in this dish to boost the mouth feel and satisfaction and it really worked.  I tend to cook with the coarser, grainy cous cous more often but in this dish, the pearl cous cous really works.  I served it as a main course meal with some grilled chicken breast and a dollop of hummus on top... it bought all the flavors together and made a real meal of it.  My husband really enjoyed it!

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup Israeli 'pearl' cous cous 

1 butternut pumpkin ('squash' to my American friends!), diced and roasted
2 cloves garlic, smashed not crushed

greek style fetta, diced in cubes

fresh spinach leaves (as much as you like, approx 2 large handfuls per person)

3/4 cup chicken stock

2 chicken breast, grilled and sliced (optional)

1/3 cup hummus, to serve 

Dressing:

olive oil (or walnut olive oil would be nice)
1 tblspn white balsamic (or rice vinegar)
juice of half lime
1 fresh red chili pepper, finely diced
sea salt and pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350'F 
• Dice the pumpkin into 1" cubes.  Roll in a bowl with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and smashed garlic.  Ensure all the pumpkin is coated with oil, then remove the garlic and place on a baking tray with parchment paper.  
• Roast in a hot oven for approx 20-25mins, until tender and the edges are slightly brown.
• Cook cous cous as per instructions on the packet (ie. simmer in chicken stock for approx 8-10mins, drain in cool water)
• Heat a pan and grill the chicken breast with a little salt and pepper to season. 
• Remove chicken and add the chili pepper to the pan, softening it for the dressing.  Cook until fragrant and soft. Remove and add it to all the other dressing ingredients, shake and set aside.
• Add the spinach to the same pan, with a few tablespoons of water to help wilt the spinach
• Now combine the cous cous, pumpkin, fetta, spinach in a bowl and add dressing to coat.
• Serve on individual plates or family style
• If using chicken, place chicken pieces on top of each serve with a dollop of hummus and a garnish with additional red chili peppers.