Round and round
One of the things I find fascinating about creating in the kitchen is the simple, yet astonishing blend of cultures, flavours and timeframes.
This is what happens when you prepare a dish of couscous.
One of the first written references of this tiny semolina is from an anonymous, 13th-century North African cookbook. According to “The cookbook of the Maghreb and Andalusia”, the couscous recipe was ‘known all over the world’!
Getting to know the true nature of couscous, one realizes it has an incredible potential to adjust to any ingredients it accompanies and to absorb all the flavours.
Freshly chopped seasonal herbs, combined with crunchy cucumbers and courgettes, adding lemon and honey, and spicing things up with some chilli and cumin…
Crumble some fresh and zesty feta cheese on top , makes this a tasty Mediterranean dish and a perfect lunch.
Spicy Couscous Salad with Courgettes Fresh Herbs and Feta Cheese
Ingredients
1 cup couscous
1¼ cups water, boiling
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley, finely chopped
½ cucumber, julienne (to resemble matchsticks)
1 courgette, julienne (to resemble matchsticks)
½ red onion, cut in half, sliced thin
1 lemon, juice and zest, about 3 tablespoons of each
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
80 g feta cheese (optional)
sea salt, to taste
black pepper , to taste
Method
1. Put the couscous in a large bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Cover with a lid (or a plate) and set aside. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
2. Toss the finely chopped herbs with the couscous, and then toss in the cucumber, courgette, onion, and lemon zest.
3. For the dressing: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, honey, chilli powder, and cumin.
4. Add the dressing to the couscous. Toss. Stir in the pine nuts. Crumble the feta cheese and stir in. Taste and season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Serve, or refrigerate until ready to serve. May be stored up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Serves 6 to 8