Herb Couscous Salad

http://schneiderchen.de | © 2011 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

Couscous is a staple food throughout North African countries and a dish enjoyed worldwide. It's a Berber dish that costs little and nourishes a lot. The one we usually find in the grocery stores is the tiny grained Moroccan couscous that has been pre-steamed. All you need to do is to mix them with boiling stock or water, and let stand for a few minutes, fluff the grains with a fork--incredibly easy to prepare. However, couscous is fairly flavorless on its own and tends to take on the flavour of other ingredients or sauces that it’s prepared with. This simple salad, inspired by one of my favourite recipe websites Essen und Trinken, is prepared with fluffy couscous, freshly diced tomatoes, pickled gherkins, and spring onions tossed with a fresh herb vinaigrette.

	Dressing
50 g Couscous 100 ml Vegetable stock 100 g Pickled gherkin, diced 100 g Tomato, diced 2 Spring onions, cut into rings Salt	2 tbsp Mint leaves, finely chopped 2 tbsp Parsley leaves, finely chopped 2 tbsp Olive oil 1-2 tbsp Lemon juice Pinch of sugar Salt and black pepper

1. In a saucepan, bring vegetable broth to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.
   
2. Dice the pickled gherkin and tomatoes. Place them in a bowl. Cut the spring onions into thin rings and add into the bowl.
   
3. Finely chop the mint and parsley leaves. Whisk together with the remaining dressing ingredients. Toss together the couscous, diced vegetables and the dressing. Taste, and adjust the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate, allowing the flavours to mingle, for 30 minutes.

http://schneiderchen.de | © 2011 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com