Couscous salad 7 August, 2022 by Martin - No comments This post may contain affiliate links, which are marked for this purpose. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Jump to the recipe My recipe for this couscous salad is wonderfully simple, super tasty and takes no time at all. This dish is perfect for you if you don’t have much time but still want to have a tasty and healthy meal. Packed with lots of vegetables and filling carbohydrates this couscous salad will bring you back in line after a long day at work. Couscous – what is it and where does it come from? Couscous has it’s origin in North African. This dish is based on moistened semolina made from durum wheat, millet or barley and grounded into small balls. Couscous is served with various types of vegetables such as chickpeas, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and typical types of meat such as beef, lamb or poultry. It is seasoned with salt and pepper as well as harissa, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom and other spices. Vegetables, meat and couscous are prepared in a so-called couscousière. While the vegetables and meat are being cooked in the lower part, the semolina is cooking above over steam. Nowadays durum wheat semolina is sold as couscous in many supermarkets as a pre-cooked and dried instant product. Contrary to the traditional preparation method with steam this instant semolina only has to swell in hot water. As said before making couscous is super easy. Put the couscous in a saucepan or deep plate and pour boiling water over it in equal parts. For example you can prepare 1¼ cup of couscous with 1¼ cup of water and half a teaspoon of salt. Cover the couscous and let it swell for about 5 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Please note that the swelling time can vary depending on the product. You might check out the cooking instruction of your product. After the couscous has swollen you can fluff it up with a fork and add some olive oil to taste. Preparing the couscous salad Instructions with all the steps and the list of ingredients can be found at the recipe card below. Keep on reading for tips and recipe ideas. Prepare couscous Put the couscous in a bowl or saucepan with half a teaspoon of salt, pour boiling water over it in equal parts and let it swell for about 5 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. For my couscous salad I prepared 1¼ cups of couscous with 1¼ cups of water. After the swelling time, you can fluff the couscous with a fork. Cutting the vegetables Wash 3 tomatoes, 1 yellow or red bell pepper and half a cucumber and cut it into small pieces. Peel the red onion and cut it into fine cubes. Then cut the chili into fine rings. Finely chop about 10 sprigs of parsley and 10 mint leaves. You can also use the stalks of the parsley without any problems but only use the leaves of the mint. Tip: If you want more heat you can simply keep the seeds of the chili. If not then simply cut the pod in half lengthways and remove the seeds with the back of your knife. I don’t mind sharpness so I didn’t remove the seeds. Make sure to wash your hands well after cutting the chili to avoid burning eyes (in case you rub your eyes). The dressing for the couscous salad Mix the juice of half a lemon or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with 5 tablespoons of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange and serve Now put all the ingredients in a salad bowl, mix it well, leave to rest for about 15 minutes and serve. I hope you have fun trying my couscous salad recipe. Bon appetit 🙂 You can find the recipe and the ingredients for it in the recipe card below. Would you like to give feedback or share your thoughts with others? I think it's great. At the end of the post you can read the comments of other guests or write a comment by yourself. Let's go Couscous salad Print preview Prep time: 15 minutesTime to rest: 5 minutes Serving: 4 servings 1 ¼ cups couscous cucumber bell pepper, red or yellow stalks parsley leaves mint red onion lemon 5 tbsp olive oil, extra vergin ½ tsp salt and more to taste pepper Instructions Put the couscous in a bowl with ½ teaspoon salt and pour boiling water over it. Let it swell for about 5 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Then fluff up the couscous with a fork.Wash the tomatoes, bell peppers and the cucumber and then cut them into cubes. Peel the red onion and cut into fine cubes. Then cut the chili into fine rings. Now chop the herbs finely. You can also use the stems of the parsley but use only the leaves of the mint.Do the dressing. Mix the lemon juice with 5 tablespoons of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.Now put all the ingredients in a salad bowl and mix it well. Let it rest for about 15 minutes and then serve. Hacks and hintsFor less heat you can cut the chili in half and remove the seeds with the back of your knife. To avoid burning eyes (in case you rub your eyes), please remember to wash your hands well after cutting the chili pepper. how to share this post I hope you liked my post. Long nights are not uncommon for me. This is the only way I can keep up filling this blog with new content regulary. That's why the coffee supply should never being interrupted :-) If you like to you can buy me a coffee by leaving some bucks into my paypal coffee fund. That would be great.
