10-minute couscous salad

 

 

I’m often looking for recipes that involve little to no work, or that don’t require me to be standing over a stove for long periods of time. This 10-minute couscous salad is one of my favourites. It is easy to make and the only ‘cooking’ you do is pouring hot water over the couscous.

Now I know some people aren’t fans of couscous, but I’d encourage you to try this with quinoa if you prefer that, or even giant couscous if you prefer that texture better. This is a forgiving recipe so you can amend it by adding or removing ingredients to suit your taste. Most of these ingredients are kitchen cupboard staples so hopefully you’ll be able to whip this couscous salad up quickly!

You will need:

200 grams of couscous

1.5 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of grated ginger (leave this out if you don’t like ginger)

1/2 red onion, chopped finely

1 tablespoon garlic oil (if you don’t have any, just grate garlic into some olive oil)

Juice of 1 lemon

200 grams cherry tomatoes

Chopped fresh coriander

Method:

Put your couscous, salt, paprika and ginger in a bowl. Give everything a good mix and then pour over 250 ml of boiled water. Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a tight fitting lid/ plate and put it to one side.

Pour your lemon juice over your chopped onion, whilst you halve the cherry tomatoes.

Add your cherry tomatoes to the onions and the lemon juice, and pour in the garlic oil. Give it a good mix.

Check your couscous (I give it 5-7 minutes) and fluff it up with a fork. It should have absorbed all the water by now. Tip in your onions, tomatoes, lemon juice and all into the bowl of couscous, mixing as you go.

Add more seasoning if you need to, top with coriander and tuck in!

You could top this couscous salad with grilled halloumi, or add olives, or feta to bulk it up if you’re eating it on it’s own. It is brilliant alongside grilled salmon and tastes even better the next day if you save it for lunch.

This serves 4, so halve the recipe or scale up as necessary.

If you try this, I’d love to see your combinations! Tag me on Instagram – happy cooking!

Recipe adapted from Nigella’s ‘Kitchen’.