Couscous salad

[LizinFrance]

Hi there,

Whenever I use couscous it is always really bland. Can someone give me ideas for a couscous salad - have got cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, raisins, apricots................. and various other 'storecupboard stuff'. What can I do to make it really tasty?

Many thanks,

Liz

What do you make it up with? Use stock, rather than water, then dress with oil and squeeze a lemon in. Your ingredients sound fine, though I would also chop a big bunch of parsley and mix that through.

my sis in law puts herbs,halved cherry tomaoes,red onion (or spring?? not sure now) and cubes of feta in.....i made it once and added olives! yumm

she also made a soy sauce/oil/vinegar concoction to sprinkle on

i think its all probably Nigellas recipes

Yes, make up with stock not water. Sometimes I throw in a knob of butter which melts in while its absorbing the stock. Sometimes extra virgin olive oil. salt, pepper and my two staple recipes are either.

1. drained jar of Artichokes, panfried halloumi, coriander and mint
2. roasted veg (peppers, asparagus, toms, onion, mushs, courgettes, etc) and whole garlic cloves, oil - 30min on high - scrape all into couscous and squeeze garlic out of its skin. Nice with fresh coriander, mint, basil. Nice with feta, halloumi or goats cheese.

Speedy replies - thank you all very much. Yes, I use water so will change that to stock.

thanks again,

Liz

Spices (like cumin & corriander) and or lots of fresh chopped herbs.

Delia Smith has a great recipe with roasted veg, feta, salad leaves and a harissa sauce which is made with cumin, lime juice, tom puree, olive oil & cayenne.

I use stock as well. And finely chopped spring onions, celery, pepper, parsley, a splash of lemon juice and chick peas. Before adding all this, separate with a fork and a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

DS made one at school that was surprisingly nice - used stock instead of water, chopped assorted veg and herbs and then stirred french dressing through when it was cool.

Mmm I use Swiss vegetable bouillon, a big squeeze of lime and a blob of butter or olive oil. Mixing in a teaspoon of sundried tomato paste makes it lovely too.

Then just add in whatever is in the fridge.

Hot smoked salmon, mint and broad beans is divine (probably use lemon juice rather than lime for that one).

And serve with rose petal harissa. Sounds poncey, but its perfect with couscous.

This recipe is really nice....

Another quick and easy way is to mix half a jar of a nice chutney in with plain cus cous. Instantly delish!

I use stock and often stir in a couple of spoonfuls of sweet chilli sauce and add lemon juice.

I made this the other day and it was delicious!
cookmarkit.com/urls/couscous-chickpea-and-feta-salad-recipes-good-food-channel

I'm a very unlikely visitor to a recipe thread but saw this and had to tell you all.. Mint.. chop mint through it.. the lemon juice and olive oil soak up the flavour and it is yummy beyond words..