Harissa Chickpea & Cauliflower Crunch
Everything goes in one basket, comes out blistered and craggy, and gets cooled down by a lemony yoghurt you stir in a mug.
Why it works
Draining chickpeas well and tossing them straight with harissa means the paste dries onto the skins and turns into a crust rather than a sauce. Cauliflower cut small enough cooks in the same window, so one basket does the whole dinner. The couscous needs nothing but boiling stock and a plate on top, and it is done in five of the thirteen minutes the basket is running.
Method
- Boil the kettle and heat the air fryer to 200°C (400°F).
- Tip the dry chickpeas, cauliflower and onion straight into the basket. Add the harissa, oil, cumin and salt and toss with your hands until everything is streaked red. The basket will be full — that is fine, as long as you shake it hard halfway.
- Air fry for 13 minutes, shaking the basket hard at 7 minutes. It is ready when the cauliflower edges are charred and the chickpeas rattle.
- While it cooks, put the couscous and salt in a large bowl, pour over the boiling stock, cover with a plate and leave 5 minutes. It drinks the lot; fork it loose.
- Stir the yoghurt, garlic, lemon zest and juice together in a mug with a pinch of salt.
- Spread the couscous over four wide plates, pile the basket contents on top, spoon over the yoghurt, and scatter with herbs and nuts. Serve with lemon wedges.
For the toddler
Set aside a handful of cauliflower florets and a spoonful of chickpeas at step 2, before the harissa and salt go in, and toss theirs with plain oil alone. Steep a little couscous for them in plain boiling water rather than stock. Crush the chickpeas with a fork, cut the florets small, and keep the almonds off their plate or grind them to a fine powder. A quarter of an adult serving is plenty.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Broccoli, romanesco or thick carrot batons all work on the same timer. Butter beans instead of chickpeas give you a creamier, less crunchy version.
Buy pre-cut cauliflower florets and you are down to 3 minutes of prep.
A sharp tomato and cucumber salad with dried mint, or olives and pickled chillies straight from the jar.
Keeps 3 days chilled. Eat cold, the couscous and chickpeas turned together as a salad, rather than reheating — it loses its crunch.