One of my main goals when making delicious salads that are vegan is to change your mind about what you think about putting in your salad.
Oftentimes, when people think of salads, they think of green leafy salads. And while there’s nothing wrong with those, some of our most popular salads are our Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, Easy Farro Salad, or our Simple Dense Bean Salad.
Today, we’re taking that same energy and making a sweet potato and chickpea couscous salad that’s been seasoned to perfection with Moroccan-inspired spices and drizzled with a harissa citrus dressing that pulls it all together.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Pantry Friendly – This recipe is mostly ingredients that people keep on hand all the time or can be swapped for what you do have making it amazing to make all the time
- Easy – This dish takes just a few minutes to toss together and then it’s just waiting on it to finish cooking
- Meal Prep – This dish tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for meal prep!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Gather your ingredients!
Sweet Potatoes
We are baking our sweet potatoes to get a delicious caramelization on them which pulls our the sweetness of them even more. They add a delicious crunch and soft texture inside all at once.
Substitute: Cauliflower could be a great swap for this, as would yukon or red potatoes.
Pearl Couscous
Unlike regular couscous which mimics a texture/base like rice, pearl couscous is similar to pasta. It is larger and chewy and great in salads.
Substitutes: Orzo would be another great option for this. If you need to stay gluten free, quinoa could be a great option.
Chickpeas
Chickpeas provide protein, texture, and fiber to this dish while being budget-friendly and a pantry staple.
Substitute: Any white bean would make a great alternative.
Dried Spices
We’re using cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, ground coriander, turmeric, nutmeg, sat and pepper to layer flavor into our salad mixture.
Lemon and Orange
We’re using bother lemon and orange to make a citrus based dressing. You’ll want to zest first and then get some of the juice out. Both are acidic, but the difference in the flavor really makes sure this pops beautifully.
Substitute: You could swap lemon with lime.
Harissa
This is an Northern African red chili pepper paste that adds loads of flavor into a dish. It has elements of smokiness, garlicky deliciousness, and complex flavors.
Substitute: You could mash roasted red peppers and add in some chili powder. Additionally, noting that these will have a varied taste difference you could do sriracha, gochujang, or chili garlic paste. If none of those work, you can do some tomato paste.
Other Ingredients that bring this together
You will also need olive oil, low-sodium vegetable broth, kalamata olives, dates, pistachios, almonds, parsley and mint.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
