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.

Just re-read the 10Kg - crikey! That's a lot of couscous salad.

Can you palm some of it off on other people? Tell them to show up with a jug and you'll fill it?

😂😂 Sorry OP Not at all helpful but this has really tickled me as I would have thought a big bag would have been (max) a kg too!!! It's going to take ages to use all that! I wouldn't even know where to go to buy a 10kg bag!
Cous cous salads? Feta, cucumber, sundried tomato, olives and whatever else you want to chuck in?
Have a bbq in summer and make a huge batch to get rid of some to the guests

I do slimming world and a lot of people there are using couscous soaked overnight in yoghurt mixed with fruit for breakfast! Haven’t tried it myself but might be a possibility? If you try it, please let us know what it’s like!

I have made this -
ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/ultimate-winter-couscous
and this one (use cous cous instead of bulghar wheat) which is amazing -
www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/winter-tabbouleh-50042042

I make "rainbow cous cous" its from the pinch of nom book its amazing just vegetable stock when making the cous cous then add: red onion, yellow pepper, orange pepper, cucumber, celery, pomegranate, feta cheese, mint and parsley its Delicious either on its own or with steak!

I find it helps also to reinflate it in whatever you’re having it with. So if I’m roasting veg with Med herbs/spices whatever I would add the cous cous to the baking tray with the veg, give it a good stir and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan and then add stock and cover to rehydrate.

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

Well there you go then, that's your solution. the bag is not for eating. You simply need to put a bonnet and an apron on it and adhere some googly eyes. Hey PRESTO! Aunty Coucous everyone's favourite food friend.

10kg! Yikes! Taboulleh is delicious. But you might get a bit bored of 10kg of that. I'd try to Palm off some on friends. You could try the same tactic as your friend - I've acquired a lot of cous cous and won't get through it, would you like some? And then rock up with 5kgs of the stuff.

I use stock when making it, salt and pepper. Goes beautifully with a tray of roasted veg. Or feta, red onion, black olives cucumber, sun blush Tom's.

I just stir a bit of pesto through once it’s rehydrated. I also roast up some Mediterranean veg and hallumi, 😋

I'm fairly new to the area so I don't have many friends around here (apart from the one leaving the country!). I guess handing out buckets of couscous would be a good way to make new friends

All of these recipes are great, thank you.

I always use stock rather than plain boiling water. I also occasionally add other spices, soy sauce and/or curry powder to it.

I add roasted or stir fried vegetables with crushed garlic or a shake of dried, minced garlic from a jar.

You are making me fancy some now.

@Topseyt If you fancy some, you're welcome round to mine. I've got enough

Really easy ways, after cooking, stir through tapenade/harissa pasta/pesto.

Use cooked in stock dressed with Greek yoghurt/chopped cucumber and mint, drizzled with pomegranate molasses. Goes well with grilled halloumi, lamb or chicken.

Check out Claudia Roden's 7 veg and couscous recipe online

If new to the area, invite the neighbours over for a couscous party

Won't use it up very fast, but I like it in soup, in a bit of a minestrone style. Maybe google cous cous soup and pick out recipes that appeal?

Was your friend a cous cous enthusiast or did she make the mistake of buying a massive bag because it worked out very cheap per kilo?

If she did indeed use a lot of it, maybe ask her for her top 5 recipes?

I feel like a 'couscous' party is code for some kind of weird swinging party. I don't care but I don't want to disappoint the neighbours when they turn up with their leather gimp masks and I serve them all a bowlful of tabbouleh

When I am too lazy to make rice or potatoes I use it as the 'carbs' if I am making a stew or something like that.

Otherwise, I mix it with fresh herbs, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and loads of lemon juice.

This thread is highly amusing.
I have nothing to offer :)

10kg?! What the hell!

You could stuff a beanbag chair with it (ensuring it's not in a damp environment).

Cous cous is one of those things (unlike rice and pasta) that I do try and follow the instructions for how much water to add.

For 10kg you'll need a couple of swimming pools full

I add to just-boiled water with a generous knob of butter, get back to the boil, turn off heat, put on lid and leave for about 5 mins. Fork over and eat.

Make it with stock.

I don’t think you can, I am very anti couscous. It’s mainly a texture thing though. I do like tabouleh when it’s made with larger grains, but you could get a tabouleh recipe and use the couscous for it and it’s extra nice with some feta and a few pomegranate seeds.

My sister (big couscous apologist) has used it in baking too, and even as a confirmed hater I thought some of the results were ok

I always use stock not water.
If using as a salad, I add things like chopped olives, finely diced peppers and cucumber, thinly sliced red salad or spring onions, chopped tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, chopped walnuts, pine nuts, chopped gherkins. To make it a more substantial salad, I add flaked mackerel, diced ham etc.
If using along side a main dish, I add flavours to blend with it, preserved lemons, diced cooked aubergine or courgette or peppers, semi dried figs or apricots or sultanas, capers, garlic.
Sometimes when making a casserole style dish, close to the end of cooking, I push all the meat to one side and add the cous-cous to the dish so it cooks in the juices, this works best with things like chicken or rabbit that are large pieces.

I don't mind cous cous - its quinoa I can't stand (definitely a texture thing

ZeroFucks
You'll be ok with the swingers thing so long as don't also have pampas grass and take mini breaks and Center Parcs...