I’m a vegetarian, and cook for myself and my husband, who is not a vegetarian. Despite the fact that he’s Italian, sometimes, we get sick of regular pasta. I was excited to I found an awesome Israeli couscous recipe on Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs, and modified it to fit our tastes and what herbs we had on hand. If you’ve never had it, Israeli couscous, sometimes called pearl couscous, or Middle Eastern couscous as it was labeled in Whole Foods’ bulk aisle, are like little pearls of pasta usually made of semolina. You can add whatever veggies you like, but who can argue with the cherry sungolds at the farmers’ market right now? This dish can also be served warm or room temp, though, to be honest, I couldn’t wait for it to cool down before chowing down.

Israeli Coucous With Roasted Tomatoes

Serves Six

For the roasted tomatoes and dressing

2 pts grape or cherry tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)

3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the couscous

2 3/4 cups vegetable broth

2 1/4 cups Israeli couscous

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

handful chopped parsley

handful chopped basil

Roast tomatoes and make dressing:

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Halve tomatoes through stem ends and place, cut sides up, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Add garlic to pan and roast in middle of oven until tomatoes are slightly shriveled around edges, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Peel garlic and purée with oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in a blender until dressing is very smooth.

Make couscous:

Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan and stir in couscous, then simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Spread couscous in 1 layer on a baking sheet and cool 15 minutes.

Transfer couscous to a serving bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, dressing, roasted tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.