How do you make cous cous nice?

[ZeroFucks]

I've got 10kg of cous cous. It's not something I'd usually eat but I don't hate it.

With 10kg of the stuff, I need to get thinking of recipes.

I'd normally have it as a side dish but how do you make it nice? After you've re-inflated it, do you just mix some fresh herbs around in it? Spices in before or after the water?

Bloody hell.

I can't donate it to a food bank because the bag's opened. I did check with my local food bank.

It's boring and bland if just rehydrated with boiling water. I usually use stock, then chopped herbs, lemon juice and various things to turn it into a salad side.

Use stock instead of water.

Or fry some spices in a bit of butter or oil and stir them through along with the water/stock.

Home made chicken stock
fried veg
loads of cous cous
parsley and lemon
maybe some fried halloumi

delicious

Fresh herbs (parsley, mint, coriander etc), dried fruit (apricots, sultanas), preserved lemons, nuts, pomegranate, olive oil.

You can bake with it as well, google for recipes, there are millions

dh uses a kallo stock cube. dd adds herbs and spices in with the water a tiny bit of butter or oil adds to the flavour too

definitely use stock and add chopped red onion, mixed peppers, corriander, lemon juice - I use it as a substitute for rice - so have it with curry, chilli, etc...

Mix it with roasted vegetables and a drizzle of dressing. Delicious!

I have this problem too , last year I happen to mention that i like it and I got 6 boxes from various different people for Christmas ! ( I have got strange friends )
I have found that mixing what ever flavor you want the cous cous to end up in with the water before adding it to the cous cous ,
so i put a bit of curry powder / lemon juice and a bit of rind ) herbs steeped in water / lime pickle etc.
however I still only have it as a side dish , usually with salad , fish , steak . So I would have lemon CC with fish and salad .

We use either Sacla' Italia fiery chilli pesto or Sacla' Italia sun-dried tomato pesto to add flavour to couscous.
Supermarket own's we tried from Sainsbury's were to artificial tasting.

@AlCalavicci That really made me laugh. Cous cous from Christmas... you definitely have strange friends.

Thank you so much for the recommendations. That's a brilliant idea about stock rather than water. I'm very excited to try some of these now

Good heavens I cross posted with lots of people then , I must learn to stop getting distracted by puss !

I can't really get past the 10kg of cous cous.

How on earth have you ended up with a 10Kg bag of couscous?

Harissa couscous for accompanying a tagine www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/harissa-couscous
Pesto is a another common way to flavour it for Mediterranean dishes www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10minute-couscous-salad
It’s also good in stuffed peppers www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/feta-couscous-stuffed-peppers

@ZeroFucks ,
I wouldnt of been so if they were fancy ready flavoured ones but they were all just bog standard packs and one was tescos own brand that cost about 60p , I know they say its the though that counts but . . . .

I always use stock instead of water. When I have it with a tagine I chop up pistachios and dried apricots and mix that through. I've also had it with roast veg mixed through it (peppers, red onion, courgettes etc)

Lemon juice, finely chopped mint and cucumber, olive oil.
Utterly bland and boring on its own.

I second the making it with stock, I also add cinnamon or ras el hanout as I usually use it for middle eastern/moroccan style things. Add roasted veg, chickpeas, lots of herbs. Great on it's own or with sausages, or as a stuffing for peppers or aubergines.

I used to do roasted veg, give half of it a quick blitz and add to the couscous at rehydrating stage. Rest of veg on the side or stored through

Pomegranate mixed through it, I usually buy the lemon or
I’ve and corriadner one though not plain

I mix it with mushrooms and peppers stir-fried with lazy garlic , season well then serve.

You can toast it gently before rehydrating - in the oven, toast til golden, stir often. Adds a slightly nuttier flavour.

Then butter (always makes everything taste better), herbs (parsley, coriander, mint, tarragon). Fry an onion til golden and stir through.

Mix it with chopped roast veg and a dressing made with harissa to spice it up a bit.

Or cold in a salad with lemon, oil, mint, feta, olives.

@AlCalavicci LOL I'm just getting images of you opening endless packets of cous cous on Christmas day trying to look all excited.

I ended up with 10kgs of cous cous because my friend is leaving the country for a couple of years and sent me a list of various stuff they didn't want to bin but couldn't or didn't want to take.

The list had various food items including 'big bag of cous cous, only a tiny bit used'. I thought 'big bag' would mean the 1kg bags from the supermarket so I thought I could definitely use it. Plus, I didn't want to be a twat about picking bits and pieces so I said I'll just everything.

When she arrived, she had the 10kg bag of cous cous strapped into her passenger seat like a vulnerable, confused, maiden aunt.

There was other excellent stuff in her hoard and I am really grateful but the sheer quantity of cous cous was rather unexpected!

lovely.

use stock to reinflate it
put raisins in when you reinflate it
make tabbouleh- my mum makes the best tabbouleh (reinflate with a tin of tomatoes)