Food & Drink

Recipes: Niall McKenna’s roasted vegetable couscous and oatmeal flapjacks

Turn away from the takeaway and a home-made alternative to expensive coffee shop flapjacks

Roasted vegetabes with couscous in a white bowl.
Niall McKenna's Roasted vegetabes with couscous
By Niall McKenna

With January in full swing, many of us are still on the health kick, but with the dark nights and freezing temperatures, it can be all too tempting to turn to takeaways.

On the menu today I’m sharing a vibrant couscous dish - easy to make and versatile because you can add your favourite chicken, beef or fish and spice it up for the second night.

Keeping up with the new year’s resolutions, I have flapjacks which are really easy to make - the perfect snack for any time of the day, and much cheaper than in the shops too...

Roasted Vegetable Couscous

Ingredients

(You can use any vegetables in this recipe but the list below is a personal favourite)

  • 2 red peppers
  • 6 tomatoes
  • 2 red onions
  • 1 fennel
  • Olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 250g couscous
  • 2 tbsp harissa
  • 2 stalks of coriander and parsley, picked
Method
  • To begin, cut the vegetables into strips or dice. When cutting the tomatoes, do not discard the juice and seeds. Then drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, mixing in the crushed garlic. Place this into a roasting tray and cook for 30 minutes at 150C. Once the vegetables are cooked, remove from the oven.
  • Place the couscous into a bowl and cover with 300ml of boiling water. Place clingfilm over the bowl and leave to cook for 10 minutes in the bowl. After this time has passed, fork and fluff through, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Mix in the harissa before adding in the vegetables. At this stage, you can add more olive oil depending on the texture you like. Sprinkle over the parsley and eat while still warm. The leftovers can be used the next day- a great time to add some cooked chicken or salmon.

Oatmeal Flapjacks

Oatmeal flap jacks on a wooden board with an espresso in the background.
Niall McKenna's oatmeal flap jacks

Ingredients

  • 125g mixture of dried sultanas, dried apricots and dried cranberries
  • 55g golden syrup
  • 170g of butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 250g rolled oats
Method
  • Begin by preheating the oven to 170C and grease the bottom of a baking tray with butter. The baking tray should be approximately 20cm x 20cm.
  • Then, place the dried fruit ingredients into a bowl and cover with boiling water, leaving to sit for a few minutes until the dried fruit becomes plump. Now that the fruit is rehydrated, drain away the excess water, removing from the bowl and roughly chopping.
  • Place butter into a pot, placing onto a hob to allow the butter to melt. Then add in the syrup and sugar, keeping on a gentle heat. Mix until all the ingredients are dissolved.
  • Stir in the oats, adding a handful of fruit and stir, coating with the melted butter and sugar mix. Repeat this until all the fruit is added and coated.
  • Remove the mixture from the pot, tipping onto the greased baking tray, smoothing out until flat. Place into the oven for 30 minutes until golden. At this stage, mark out the slices and remove from the heat and leaving to cool.
  • Once cool, turn out and place in an airtight container to keep fresh.
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