Cous Cous Salad

I love making  cous cous salad as it is a quick healthy meal. I make it on the days when I can not be bothered to cook or if I have been busy in the garden. It is full of fibre and nutritious.  The cous cous only takes about 3 minutes to cook.  I can even make it in advance and it lasts a few days in the fridge as the flavour gets better with time.  We like to eat it as a healthy lunch on it’s own, or as a side dish with grilled meat or fish.  You can add which ever ingredients that you have in and so mine is a bit different every time.  Some times I use quinoa to make this meal if some one is gluten free. I am not measuring the individual amounts for the vegetables as the recipe is versatile and cheaper if you add what you already have. I often pick bits and pieces straight out of the garden in summer. It tastes nicer with the dressing but if I do not have the ingredients for one I just add a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.

Ingredients

Cous cous.

Boiling water

Salt

Salad and vegetables. I add a combination of things like chopped spinach, chopped fresh tomatoes, cubes of cucumber, fresh beans, shallot or onion, chopped red or yellow pepper, blanched almonds, chick peas, basil, sweet corn, peas, or oregano.  I try to choose things that are different colours.

Cheese (optional) We only add cheese sometimes if it is going to be a meal in itself.  Usually we eat with out cheese.  Different cheese can be used from grated hard cheeses like parmesan to soft mozzarella or feta cheese.

Dressing (optional)

2 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of lemon zest

1 tbsp of wine vinegar (I use red)

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

2 or 3 tbsp of olive oil

Method

1. Put the cous cous and the salt into a bowl.  I usually add 2 cups which makes us a couple of meals for two.
2. Add boiling water to the bowl until it just covers the cous cous.
3. Leave to soak whilst you start cutting the salad or vegetables.
4. After 3 or 4 minutes fluff the cous cous up using a fork and let it cool
5. Cut vegetables into small pieces.  I usually have about 4 or 5 cups of vegetables but you can add as much as you have.
6. Once cool, place the cous cous into the serving bowl mix in the vegetables, salad and cheese evenly.
7. In a small jug or bowl whisk the lemon juice, zest, vinegar, salt and pepper together and slowly drizzle in the olive oil whilst whisking.  The dressing should thicken a bit.
8.  Just before serving, pour the dressing over the cous cous salad and gently mix in.
9. This will keep in a fridge for a couple of days