Summer sheen has finally hit the British Land, and blossoms & pastels have covered the streets and alleys. All the colours suddenly seem to have come out and the glacial wind has turned into nice warm breeze. Although I do like this warmth in the air, I don’t like Sun wrath directly on my face. And I know people here love that and wait for it for rest of the 11 months. Yes, I know am one of those complaining sorts ! The only thing I like about this weather is that I don’t have to carry heavy Winter Jackets all the time on my Shoulder like a shepherd..
So while I was still moaning about the Sun raging all the time, Nisha planned for a Summer Party at her place and invited a bunch of London Bloggers for a Potluck. I was so excited to go, had to cancel an appointment with another friend ( I hope she is not reading this !!) . We got together last Sunday, Preeti, Sireesha, Gayathri, Sangeeta, Vineetha, Nisha and myself and had a proper blast. Nisha played the perfect hostess intimidating us for having more and more drinks which were amazing. Instead of having proper lunch we planned an array of starters and drinks, which felt refreshingly good and light considering it was too hot and humid that day. We discussed everything from husbands to work, from kids to Global world issues ( I just added that for finish! )… But yeah, we discussed everything but food which was very unlike us and for a change very enjoyable.
And the Lunch !! You can only imagine how amazing the Lunch would be when the Foodies meet together at one place, with their favoruite food items. Some awesomely prepared Grilled Chicken pieces, Chicken Tart, PAneer Tikka, Prawn Canapes and Desserts like Sandesh, Velvet Cup cakes etc accompanied this Couscous Salad along with the refreshing drinks we had.
I prepared this Moroccan Salad for the day, which was introduced to me by my Colleague. She is one sweet soul who always fusses about her being lazy and hence prepares food which is easy and quick to make. She, therefore gives me such simple recipes from her kitty which involve very less of cooking and no toiling in the kitchen. Although most of her dishes are made up of canned or ready-made stuff, there are some like this Couscous Salad which are really quick and healthy and can be eaten both Cold or Warm. I would call it as Moroccan salad because of the use of Harissa Paste and chickpeas into it, plus no Indian spices per se. But of course it can be amended as per your liking and taste and the availability of spices in your kitchen .
Couscous is quite famous these days, and though I would again say that our own Indian whole grains like Daliya and Semolina will always be better digested by our bodies than any of the foreign stuff, I somehow like Couscous now and have started using this on a regular basis… initially I used to cook Couscous as demonstrated in various website like adding it into the pan and cooking it for a while etc.. It never worked for me, and after a while I got bored and annoyed with my regular failure and eventually stopped making it,. My colleague however, gave me an entirely different method of cooking Couscous which I have used for this recipe here.. It resulted in the most fluffy and amazing Couscous I have ever had before, and that with less butter than you would have guessed.
What you need?
- 1 cup Couscous
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 veg stock cube
- 1 tsp of Chili flakes – optional
- Almost 3 cups hot water
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas ( 1 can )
- 1 cup cooked Red kidney beans ( 1 can )
- 1 bell pepper – chopped small
- 1 Large Onion – sliced thin
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Harissa Paste – optional ( see notes for alternative )
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon – almost 1 ½ tbsp.
- 1 tbsp Vinegar – optional
For Garnish:
- 2 tbsp chopped spring onion stem
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
-
How to Make ?
Take cous cous in a big mixing bowl, put in a little bit of butter, 1 stock cube- veg, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Then add in enough boiling water so it covers the top of the cous cous, just give a gentle stir so as to mix the stock cube well with the water. Straight away cover bowl with cling film and leave for 10 mins, meanwhile we get the veggies ready
Heat oil in a deep pan, fry onions till just cooked. No need to get the caramelised or brown, they will get cooked with rest of the vegetables.
Add bell peppers and fry it uncovered with onions for a minute on medium flame. Throw in the spices, chickpeas and red kidney beans and mix everything well, cook covered for 2-3 minutes.
Open and add Harissa Paste, mix again and turn off.. Look at the cous cous, it must be fluffy and soft by now
When done flake with a fork and mix in with the veg, squeeze in the Lemon juice and Vinegar and give a final stir. Garnish with fresh coriander and spring onion bits for that extra crunch and taste.
My Notes:
- If you don’t have Harissa Paste, and don’t wish to make it from scratch. You may just add garlic, cumin seeds and crushed red dried chilies to the above list of Ingredient. Before frying onion, fry these three things in oil and then do as the recipe follows. Since Cous Cous has a very bland taste, this will provide in extra flavour to the final dish.
- You may wish to add more veggies to this, some other good options are : – Aubergines ( eggplants), Courgettes, Baby corns, even diced potatoes if you want.
- You may add herbs to the same as well, while you pour in boiling water to the Cous Cous :- dried Parsley and Mint blends very well with the texture
- Choose colourful veggies like red bell pepper and baby corns if making for kids, and omit harissa or its alternative to keep it simple.
- When I say boiling water, it actually means hot water . I just chose the word boiling to make sure you don’t use lukewarm water
Lovely Nupur and very tempting 🙂
Very healthy and yummy salad Nupur…
there it is ..have been waiting for this my dear..thanks for the proper recipe..bookmarking it right away and this is going to be my main meal for the coming week!
am glad you liked it Sireesha, hope you will enjoy it 🙂
Looks lovely!
looks so yummy…Nice clicks
Ohh! it woukd be delicious cause the beautiful pics can´t liar
that was a healthy & delicious salad..
healthy salad.. lovely combo
Awesome.. Great recipe and thank you for sharing Nupur 🙂
Lovely light salad Nupur I have heard loads about couscous and quinoa but I almost find it hard to recognise when it is plated 😛 never tried both… may be someday will find them in India and I know where to look for a perfect recipe :D…. Looks like u all enjoyed so much and I really missed all the fun… grrr..
Hugs
I like Cous Cous better than Quinoa Priya, its more fluffy and very simple to make. I wish you get it there and you could try this 🙂
very healthy and delicious looking salad dear 🙂
Never made cous cous salad with harissa paste…got to try this! 🙂
Oh yes…was waiting for this..once I m back from India I m going to make it.. ..just rememebering all the fun we had that day. Grt fun, superb food…waiting for another day like that 🙂
YEs Vineetha, it was lovely to meet you all Thanks to Nisha to arrange everything so well
Love this salad, a prefect summer salad i must say, seems u guys had a fabulous summer party.
Ohh yes PRiya the Party was amazing and we enjoyed loads.. you know all girly chit chat 🙂
oh wow looks very appetizing really good.
sounds very interesting I have never made this before got to make it for sure.
my favourite salad. Amazing how we can add so many ingredients to the simple cous cous to make it into a wholesome meal.
Yes Mayuri this is very versatile dish, can be made with all Indian ingredients or other ways too
Very very healthy n delicious… super clicks…
Yummy and healthy salad
Looks super yum Nupur 🙂
there it is…i am def making it for that picnic party.
It was tooooo good.
And lol i liked how you added that global world issue at the end..:)
oh sorry nupur..i think it has added my comment from my other inactive account. Nisha here in case you dint realise 🙂
Loved this combo…
Looks very colorful & inviting.. Bookmarked !
Hi Nupur, my first time to your blog and what a colorful and tasty couscous dish.
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This is the first time for me to know that a recipe such as this Moroccan Salad exists. I’m quiet intrigue of the ingredients of this recipe and whether or not it is delicious. Actually, I am the kind of a person who loves to try new things, taste new food, and just have something new to my ears, eyes and tongue.
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Wow this sounds really nice. gonna give this a go. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Thanks Simon, I hope you like it! 🙂