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Hello, my Insiders!
Today I want to share with you something that’s vibrant, generous, and full of flavor without being fussy. It also happens to star an ingredient that is perfect for combi steam cooking, one that goes from inedible and bitter in its raw state to soft, creamy and perfect for taking on just about any flavor you throw at it.
Today’s feature is Chermoula Roasted Eggplant with Couscous, and I think you’re going to love it. The eggplant roasts simply with a warmly spiced chermoula paste rubbed over it. There’s no salting or frying with huge quantities of oil, just humidity and heat to give incredible depth of flavor and the creamiest, silkiest-textured eggplant you’ve ever made. The accompanying couscous is both light and filling, with plenty of complementary flavors. It’s the sort of dish that feels equally at home on a weeknight or at the center of a casual weekend meal with friends.
There are a few of my favorite vegetable recipes in From the Archives if you want to keep going in this direction, plus a little peek at something that’s been making me very happy outside the kitchen: my new vegetable garden beds. I’ve also got a question for you in that section, because I’d love to hear what’s working in your gardens.
Happy steam oven cooking, see you in late April!
Emily
Chermoula Roasted Eggplant with Couscous
This glorious eggplant dinner is full of color, full of flavor, and surprisingly easy to pull together. The steam oven helps the eggplant become beautifully tender, and the chermoula paste you rub onto it adds a punchy hit that makes the whole dish sing.
Served with an easy couscous studded with olives and little currants or raisins, this is a complete meal on its own, although you can boost the protein factor by adding yoghurt, a fried egg and a handful of nuts or seeds. It also works beautifully as a hefty side dish to a piece of grilled fish or meat.
From the Archives:
In the mood for more vegetable-forward meals and sides? These recipes are worth revisiting:
Cauliflower Salad with Dates and Yoghurt Dressing. A beautiful warm salad with plenty of texture and contrast, thanks to sweet dates, creamy yoghurt dressing, and tender steam-roasted cauliflower.
Hummus Roasted Mushrooms. Earthy mushrooms and creamy hummus make a deeply satisfying combination here, and it’s one of those dishes that works as either a main or a side.
Moroccan Chickpea Salad. Bright, hearty, and full of punchy flavor, this is a great make-ahead option for lunches or a take-along salad for group meals.
Crispy and Creamy Smashed Potato Salad. For something familiar but also new and fancy-feeling, this potato salad brings together the best of both worlds — crunchy potato edges and a soft middle with a zingy and creamy dressing.
A Thing I'm Loving
I’ve just set up some new vegetable garden beds, and it’s definitely a thing I’m loving! Although I’ve grown herbs and veggies for most of my adult life, I’ve never had a dedicated space like this to grow larger quantities and varieties.
We’re going into winter here (though it doesn’t get very cold where I live), so I’ve planted broccoli and cauliflower, garlic, Swiss chard, beetroot, radishes, carrots, peas, green onions and a few hardier herbs like rosemary and sage. The beds look a little bare with their tiny seedlings and seeds, but I am excited to see what they look like in just a few weeks.
There are all sorts of reasons I love this project, be it teaching my kids more about productive gardening and giving them reasons to be outside more, or growing food that tastes better and saves some of my (many, many) trips to the supermarket. But mostly there’s just something special about watching a patch of ground slowly turn into something useful, and being able to wander out and pick what you need for dinner.
I am certain many of you are keen gardeners as well as keen cooks, so if you’ve got a successful growing tip, or a failsafe crop you swear by for home growing, I’d love you to email and tell me about it! I’m especially interested in the things that actually work in real gardens, for real people with jobs and multiple children and minimal time.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
The AMA format has changed in 2026, but I still want your questions! This is your best opportunity to ask me anything you like about steam oven cooking.
I’ll continue to answer some AMA questions via email, but my goal is to respond to more of them as articles on the Steam & Bake website. This makes the answers easier to search and refer back to if the same questions come up again. Whenever a new article is published in response to an AMA question, I’ll let you know here in our Insiders journals.
If you have a question, big or small, please email it to [email protected]. Be sure to include INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can easily collect and review all submissions.