I’ve seen couscous on many a restaurant menu, but has Yardley ever cooked couscous before until last week? Nope! But when I did, it was a great experience! I was working on a salad bar item at the hotel and couscous was on the menu. So I figured, let me make a healthful and delicious Mediterranean style dish that people will thoroughly enjoy as they devour it. And that I did and it was such an easy process, so I want to share this recipe with you, so you can add this to your workweek repertoire. I only had about a half an hour to get the whole thing done because I was leaving for the day to head off to the city to meet a college friend for a much needed catch up dinner at an Indian restaurant in midtown. What I discovered in that short amount of time is that couscous is super quick to make and therefore a perfect meatless meal to make during a busy workweek!
Before you do anything to the couscous, I advise you to prepare your mise en place. This is a French that basically means, prepare yo’self! Well not word for word, but mise en place is when you take all the ingredients that you’re going to use and cut, chopped, separate, basically, organize in one place on your counter work space. It’s a step that helps you develop order before you get into the nitty gritty of cooking your meal. So if you have to slice, chop, mince, wash anything, this is the time you do it.
This recipe requires mostly fine chopping. You’ll be fine chopping (or rough chopping if you ain’t got time for all that) the following: Red Bell Peppers, Green Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Celery, Cucumber, Mint, Basil, and Cilantro. You’ll then open your cans of Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas or if you have the dried version, boil them until fully cooked.
Now when your mise en place is complete and you’re ready to make the couscous, your natural inclination may be to add a good amount of water in order for the grains to cook. However, that’s absolutely not the case. Let me give you a heads up before you try it at home. Follow the instructions of how to cook it, which you’ll find on the packaging. Depending on what your couscous is made of or if you have a par-cooked couscous, it will require a specific amount of liquid, whether you choose water or a stock. The one I was working with at the restaurant didn’t require a lot of water or stirring as it was par-cooked (partially cooked). The type of couscous I used required a 1:1 ration of water to couscous and only needed to cook for no more than 7 minutes. I know! The easiest and fastest thing EVER!
What I did was added the water (1:1), the couscous grains, and a bit of salt and pepper. I stirred once very gently then stopped immediately. At that point, I allowed it to boil. I had to basically contain myself. At its boiling point, I turned the stove off, covered it and let it sit for about 7 minutes. I’m telling you, it cooked so fast, I didn’t even have time to go do something else in between, which is a good thing because this recipe keeps things moving right along.
Once the couscous is done, all I needed to do at that point was mix all the ingredients together. As for the dressing when you try this for yourself, you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, lemon juice and zest, along with salt and pepper, and a little bit of water if you’d like to loosen it up. I want you to have a little fun with your dressing, so I’m not providing specific measurements. Using these ingredients that I just mentioned, you’ll make your own dressing the way that fits your taste. And it’s going to be delicious, I believe in you!
This dish stretches nicely and keeps up in the fridge well, so make a nice big batch and you’ll cover at least two or three meatless meals for the week!
Any questions? Let me know in the comments section below!
To powerful workweeks and good eats!
Love,
Yardley
NOURISHING COUSCOUS CHICKPEA SALAD
Ingredients
Salad
1 cup Red Bell Peppers, chopped
1 cup Green Bell Peppers, chopped
1 cup Tomatoes, chopped
1 cup Celery, chopped
1 cup Cucumber, chopped
½ cup Mint, chopped
½ cup Basil, chopped
½ cup Cilantro, chopped
Dressing
Extra virgin olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Dijon mustard
Honey
Lemon juice and zest
Salt and pepper
Water, if desired
Couscous
Follow the instructions on the packaging of your couscous for measurements up to 4 or 5 servings
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for salad, including cooked coucous, and mix thoroughly. Create your customized vinaigrette and mix into the salad, then serve and enjoy!