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.

I halve cherry tomatoes, slice spring onions, dice pepper and add crushed garlic to a pan and slightly soften. Then add some stock and simmer until veg soft. Then add the cous cous. Serve with chicken or fish. Delicious cold with feta cheese too.

She ended up with 10kg of couscous because her ex-MIL is very frugal.

Every few months, her ex-MIL go to a cash and carry and buy giant bags/tins/boxes of basically everything which she'd then deliver to my friend's house.

When my friend and her DP split up, he left the latest giant bag of couscous with her because neither of them particularly liked it (hence only a tiny bit being used and she has no recipe suggestions).

Stock in the water, then middle eastern, sumac, mint, pomegranate seeds, some harrisa, preserved lemons. Goes well with chicken and lamb, have to say its good to have it in when I can't be bothered with veggies.

@AliasGrape I'm fairly on-the-fence about couscous at the moment. I'm sure after 10kg of the stuff I'll have an opinion.

I think couscous apologist might be my favourite phrase I've ever read on MN

I serve it with lamb tagine - yum.

There's frugal and then there's crazy! It costs about 30p a bag and even those little bags last ages!
If this was the 80's/early 90's I'd expect beadle to be hiding somewhere 😂

Sorry - not being helpful at all!

I guess handing out buckets of couscous would be a good way to make new friends

NO! you're going about this all wrong @ZeroFucks as per my last post the 10Kg bag IS your new friend.

We usually roast aubergine, courgette, tomato, red onion, peppers with lots of garlic, mixed herbs, chilli flakes and olive oil.

Rehydrate the couscous with stock and extra virgin olive oil.

Then depending on what we’re having it with we might serve it with a sauce or a couple of accompaniments that go well with the main dish.

We often have it with lemon, garlic and thyme chicken. Or peri peri chicken.

We also have it with lamb.

Or vegetarian dishes like fried halloumi, falafel, or feta, olive and tomato salad.

Sauces/condiments can be things like houmous, harrisa, yogurt/cucumber/mint, tahini sauce.

Oh and baba ghanoush! Plus toasted pita. Mmmmmm.

@soupforbrains I'm worried about this approach because I regularly talk, and sing, to my dog walking around the neighbourhood. Not talking to her like a dog (shall we go to the park, do you want your dinner), I mean like actually telling her about my day, planning my week with her. She's a rescue and I was advised that talking and singing really calms her down. It does but I look insane

Couple that we an anthropomorphised bag of north African grains and I'm well on my way to a sectioning I reckon.

@TangBloodyFastic I know! I met her once, she was a lovely lady but completely bonkers and very very frugal.

OP you have a very poetic turn of phrase

www.food.com/recipe/ainsleys-spicy-casablanca-couscous-436201

Slimming World do a couscous cake made with a bottle of orange juice and an egg or something. It’s quite nice.

That sounds utterly vile Triglesoffy

Couscous is my go to for chucking food together in a hurry/when I cba and when there is little food around.

I always use stock, but generally it is quite bland so I try to add stuff to give it a kick or flavour. Last week added jalapenos,nuts, baby spinach, chopped tomatoes and olives. Usually use mozzarella chucked in with the stock, always add nuts just for bite factor as most of couscous and assorted veggies are soft and a pretty boring eating experience.

10kg will last you forever!

@ZeroFucks
It is truly difficult to look gratefully for one bag but 6 is impossible .
There are some very nice sounding recipes on here that I will try with my many bags .

Once you are truly sick to death of eating it / it's gone off in about 100 years maybe it could be donated to a cat owner to be used as kitty litter

Or you could set up a plastic-free couscous shop in your front room and invite your neighbours to come along with their Tupperware. Think how quickly you would make lots of new acquaintances!

We do couscous hooked in stock with roasted vegetables, tinned tomatoes and cheese.

cook with a stick cube.
I chop load did raw veg v v small and add some crumbled feta, lemon juice and grated garlic

Sultanas at the bottom of a dish, add cous cous
Frozen crushed ginger and garlic cube. Juice of half a lemon, salt. Add water on top. Stir through chopped apricots. It needs an extra ingredient to be perfect but not discovered that yet.

Or sultanas, cous cous, Turmeric powder, cumin, ground coriander, salt, water, add chopped apricots.

I don't think couscous ever goes off, so you will be grimly eating a couscous meal every week until the end of time... I do love it, and I bet a good few MN couscous apologists do, so you could maybe do a shout out on MN local for someone to offload the odd kilo onto?

You can use it as a crisp coating for things like salmon or chicken. A bit like breadcrumbs.
Salad wise I favour slightly less water and lots of lemon juice and olive oil. So that it's Al dente. And less cous cous, more veg. (Not helpful!)

I can't!

Put in a bowl, with a crumbled stock cube, some finely crushed garlic and pour boiling water over. Cover, come back in 10 mins, fork through, squeeze of lemon, some herbs stirred through. Serve with harissa yoghurt, grilled veggies, salmon or chicken. Delicious!