Graffiti Eggplant & Courgette Couscous Salad ~ Easy Vegan Meals

Have any of you noticed that it’s not as easy to find all the foods you need at one supermarket these days? I used to be able to hit up Kaufland and get most of what I needed, using a delivery service for the rest. But given everything going on in the world, it seems to be hit or miss with lots of things.

At the top of that list I would put lettuce. Romaine lettuce has been gone for months, which leaves very few options because I’m not a fan of bagged lettuce or salad mix. There have just been too many problems over the years so I try to stay away from those. But I LOVE to eat a big, hearty salad for lunch on most days.

So, what am I to do?

Improvise, of course.

This warm couscous salad with graffiti eggplant and zucchini fits the technical definition of a salad, and it was delicious to boot, so here we go!

I came across some beautiful graffiti eggplant and my husband asked me to get some because he loves the stuff. I, on the other hand, have just started to like eggplant and not out of necessity. Here in Romania there’s a dish called vinete, which is basically an eggplant dip. For me, it’s hit or miss but we were recently visiting Sinaia and I actually slathered it on two slices of bread…and ate them both.

So when I spotted these bad boys, I grabbed two of’em. But I had no idea what to do with them, until today!

I knew I was going to make a warm salad with cold/raw elements, but I had no idea what vegetables I would use until I made a trip to the fridge and created my ingredients list.

If you want an easy vegan salad for lunch, I recommend adding the vegetables to the oven, baking on a high heat for 20 to 30 minutes. That way you just have to make the couscous, grill the eggplant and whip up a quick and easy vegan salad dressing.

The only raw elements in this salad are diced cucumbers, sliced cherry tomatoes and radish sprouts. You can cut and season them and set aside until it’s time to serve.

Couscous is the easiest grain to make so if you’re a lazy vegan, I recommend that you keep a bag on hands at all times. Rinse the grain, boil the water and then drop the couscous and remove for heat. Fluff with a fork after five minutes and that’s it.

When the vegetables are done, add them to a big bowl with the raw ingredients and couscous, and toss with dressing or drizzle the vegan salad dressing on top.

For the vegan salad dressing: Chop fresh dill and parsley and add to vegan yogurt, salt, pepper, garlic and citrus juice. Whip together or run through a food processor and you’re done.

This vegan salad was so good I decided to just drizzle the veggiegurt on top and blend as I ate. And it was delicious!

And you know what, I even enjoyed the graffiti eggplant, brushed with oil, seasoned and cooked on a griddle skillet, it was easy to cook and yummy to eat.