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Do you ever wish you could be a mouse in someone else's house? You probably would have been a laughing mouse had you been there, peeping out of your little mouse hole (nibbling, on a few spheres of tender pearl pasta that had inadvertently rolled your way) and watching Scott and I as we sat down to enjoy this Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable and Pearl Pasta Salad. We'd just finished photographing it and were starving. Well, maybe it's better to say that I was starving. Scott said the blessing and I immediately began devouring. He was distracted by something on his computer (yes, we were having lunch on the couch).
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves fresh garlic finely minced
- fine zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- extra virgin olive oil see instructions for amounts
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms halved if large
- 2 medium bell peppers or 8-10 mini bell peppers color of your choice - I used the minis in yellow, orange and red
- 1 medium red onion peeled, halved, each half cut in quarters.
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion peeled, halved, each half cut in quarters.
- 2 small zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into ½-inch slices
- 3 medium carrots peeled and sliced into ½-inch diagonal slices
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 ½ cups pearl pasta also known as Israeli couscous, cooked according to package directions using chicken broth instead of water.
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes
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Combine all dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake well. Set aside.
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Preheat oven to 450˚F. Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper or foil. Allow parchment paper/foil to extend over the edges of the pans.
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Place bell papers, onions and zucchini on one sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir to coat veggies with oil.
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Place carrots on the second pan. Drizzle with honey and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir to coat. Place mushrooms on the last pan and drizzle with olive oil. Stir to coat.
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Scatter each pan with a generous pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Place all three pans into preheated oven with mushrooms on the lowest rack. Roast for 10 minutes then stir each pan to redistribute vegetables. Return carrots and mushrooms pans to the oven. Pan with onions, peppers and zucchini should be done at this point. If zucchini is still not tender return it to the oven for another minute or two or until tender but not mushy.
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Roast carrots another 8-10 minutes or until tender. Mushrooms will take 15-20 longer minutes and should be deep golden brown when finished.8. Combine cooked couscous, roasted veggies and spinach in a large bowl.
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Leave the parchment paper or foil on one of the pans and add tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Tilt pan several times to coat tomatoes with oil. Place in the oven for 6-7 minutes or until beginning to shrivel slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside. Add dressing to pasta mixture in bowl. Stir gently to distribute. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to a serving dish or platter and scatter with the cherry tomatoes.
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Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side salad
Anne C. Marsh says
I'm allergic to honey -- what can I sub for it on the carrots? Or can I just leave it off and roast all the veg together? (This looks SO GOOD and I can't wait to try it!)
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Anne, you could sub maple syrup!
Kimberly says
I absolutely love this one cold! I added beets and everything was fantastic!!!!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Kimberly! Beets sounds wonderful in this!
Emily says
Hi! This says it takes 3 hours and 5 minutes to make. I'm trying to figure out where the 3 hours comes from? To me it looks close to an hour to cook. Am I missing something?
Chris Scheuer says
No, you're not missing a thing, Emily! It's me. A while back I changed recipe plugins and it messed up all of my times. I've been trying to slowly go back and change them but with over 1200 recipes it's a slow process. I'll change this one now! Thanks!
Liz says
Hello, Can this be made up ahead of time? I'd like to make it for a work party and do the prep work the evening before. I'm assuming if I do this I wouldn't want to put the dressing on until shortly before the party. Thank you,
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you could definitely make it ahead and add the dressing right before serving.
Judy says
This was so delicious.. even my carnivore husband didn't miss the meat!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much Judy, so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
kjnyman says
This looks amazing! Is this salad ok to eat cold? I know you said it can be made ahead or eaten as leftovers.
Chris Scheuer says
Cold might not be so good, but room temperature would be fine.
Heather says
This was so delicious! I added black oil cured olives for extra flavor and it was so yummy!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for letting us know Heather! The olives sound amazing, what a great idea! I love it when people take my recipes and make them even better!
Frankie says
Delish!! A little effort but, WOW, worth every minute. . It's beautiful , delicious, and healthy! Thanks for recipe.
Dawn says
Hi! This looks delicious, I plan on making this for a party, my question is are you cooking the pearl pasta in plain water or chicken broth? It was mentioned but I don't see it listed in the ingredients.
Lauren says
You mention in the ingredients list that it calls for a sweet yellow onion. I think you meant pepper, looking at the photos!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lauren,
I used both a sweet yellow onion and bell peppers in the recipe.
Nicole says
Love all the vegetables! Isn't have couscous so I used rotini pasta but the pasta sucked up all the sauce so I splashed it win balsamic and it was amazing. Well def try it with couscous but it was still yummy
Chris Scheuer says
I bet it was great with the rotini and that was smart to add a splash of balsamic. Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂 We loved this one. I'll be making it again, for sure!
Candy says
This recipe was amazing, the whole family loved it. Thank you for the recipe; I am cooking impaired so anything I can make that is actually edible is a big surprise. This was really easy and turned out delicious!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for letting us know Candy. You are so funny - "cooking impaired" 🙂 So happy you enjoyed it. We loved this one too!
Pam says
The new site looks terrific!
I am loving this dish - roasted veggies are the best.
Susan says
I have just done all the prep work for tonight's dinner. We, in Toronto, are in another deep freeze, so this salad will be a harbinger of spring!
I have read and re-read the list of ingredients and do not see spinach mentioned, yet it is referred to in the text.
I will 'wing' it in case you don't get back to me today, but hopefully you will. All the components are sensational!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Susan, I've added the spinach. So sorry - Chris