Couscous Salad - 4, Vegetarian or with Chicken/Meat
Couscous Salad - 4
Steve Lister
Pictures by Steve Lister.
Couscous is traditionally a North African dish, but here I have mixed a few Asian spices as well.
Note from Mamta; Couscous is made from wheat and it is granular like 'dalia cereal' in India. You can make this dish with precooked dalia that has been cooked like rice and not soggy like a cereal.
1 cup dry couscous makes about 2.5 cups when cooked or soaked. It will be enough for 3-4 people (approximately 1/3 cup dry couscous per person). You can add pre-cooked or left over roast Chicken/Meat pieces as well, if you have any leftovers.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 full cups of couscous
1 large red onion or 6-7 baby onions, cut in half
2-3 sticks celery, cut into half inch pieces
1 large or 2 small green/red peppers (bell pepper/capsicum) diced into 1 inch pieces
6-8 sun dried tomatoes, cut into small bits
2-3 of garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4, preserved lemon quarters, (oil free lemon pickle, finely chopped, about 1 full tablespoon after chopping
Spices
1/4 tsp. fenugreek powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried mint
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. harissa chilli paste (optional).
Instructions
Place vegetables, fenugreek powder, cumin powder, celery salt, black pepper, oregano, mint, turmeric powder, smoked paprika in a bowl, toss them around in olive oil, and spices* .
Roast on a tray, in a hot oven - 200°C or 400° F or Gas mark 6, for about 10-15 minutes.
Take it out of oven and stir in the dry couscous.
Cover with the stock made from a couple of vegetable stock cubes, a tablespoon of tomato purée dissolved in hot water. This should cover the couscous by about 1 inch in a large roasting tray (see photos).
Put back in the oven for 5 minutes until the stock is soaked up!
Eat it just as it comes out, garnished with a few leaves of rocket or other salad leaves and melon/pine kernel seeds.
Serve it as a side dish to roasted meats.
You can allow it to get cold and then mix with watercress leaves or rocket leaves and pre-cooked chicken or pastrami etc. and serve it cold. It makes a very nice and tasty change to sandwiches!
