Super Easy Cous Cous Salad and Summer Party with Blogger friends

Summer  sheen  has finally hit the British Land, and Blossoms and Pastels have covered the streets and alleys. All the colours suddenly seem to have come out and the glacial wind has turned into nice warm breeze. Although I do like this warmth in the air, I don’t like Sun wrath coming on directly on my face, although I know people her love that and wait for it for rest of the 11 months. Yes, I know am one of those complaining sorts ! The only I like about this weather is that I don’t have to carry heavy Winter Jackets all the time on my Shoulder like a shepherd..

So while I was still moaning about the Sun raging all the time, Nisha planned for a Summer Party at her place and invited a bunch of London Bloggers for a Potluck. I was so excited to go, had to cancel an appointment with another friend ( I hope she is not reading this !!) . We got together last Sunday, Preeti, Sireesha, Gayathri, Sangeeta, Vineetha, Nisha and myself and had a proper blast. Nisha played the perfect hostess intimidating us for having more and more drinks which were amazing btw.  Instead of having proper lunch we did an array of starters and drinks, which felt refreshingly good and light considering it was too hot and humid that day. We discussed everything from husbands to work, from kids to Global world issues ( I just added that for finish )… But yeah, we discussed everything but food which was very unlike us and for a change very enjoyable. 

And the Lunch !! You can just imagine how amazing the Lunch would be when the Foodies meet together at one place, with their  favoruite starters. Some awesomely prepared Grilled Chicken pieces, Chicken Tart, PAneer Tikka, Prawn Canapes and Desserts like Sandesh, Velvet Cup cakes etc accompanied this Cous Cous Salad along with the refreshing drinks we had. 

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I prepared this Moroccan Salad for the day, which was introduced to me by my Colleague. She is one sweet soul who always fusses about her being lazy and hence prepares food which is easy and quick to make. She, therefore gives me such simple recipes from her kitty which involve very less of cooking and no toiling in the kitchen. Although most of her dishes are made up of canned or ready-made stuff,  there are some like this Cous Cous Salad which are really quick and healthy and can be eaten both Cold or Warm. I would call it as Moroccan salad because of the use of Harissa Paste and chickpeas into it, plus no Indian spices per se. But of course it can be amended as per your liking and taste and the availability of spices in your kitchen .

Cous Cous is getting more and more famous these days, and though I would again say that our own Indian whole grains like Daliya and Semolina will always be better digested by our bodies than any of the foreign stuff, I somehow like Cous Cous now and have started using this on a regular basis… initially I used to cook Cous Cous as demonstrated in various website like adding it into the pan and cooking it for a while etc.. It never worked for me, and after a while I got bored and annoyed with my regular failure and eventually stopped making it,. My colleague however, gave me an entirely different method of cooking Cous Cous which I have used for this recipe here.. It resulted in the most fluffy and amazing   Cous Cous I have ever had before, and that with less butter than you would have guessed. 

What you need?

1 cup Cous cous

1 tbsp butter

1 veg stock cube

1 tsp of Chili flakes - optional

Almost 3 cups hot water

1 cup cooked chickpeas ( 1 can )

1 cup cooked Red kidney beans ( 1 can )

1 bell pepper – chopped small

1 Large Onion – sliced thin

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Harissa Paste – optional ( see notes for alternative )

1 tsp Paprika

2 tbsp Cooking Oil – I used Canola Oil

Juice of 1 lemon – almost 1 ½  tbsp.

1 tbsp Vinegar – optional

For Garnish:

2 tbsp chopped spring onion stem

2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

How to Make ?

Take cous cous in a big mixing bowl, put in a little bit of butter, 1 stock cube- veg, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Then add in enough boiling water so it covers the top of the cous cous, just give a gentle stir so as to mix the stock cube well with the water. Straight away cover bowl with cling film and leave for 10 mins, meanwhile we get the veggies ready

Heat oil in a deep pan, fry onions till just cooked. No need to get the caramelised or brown,  they will get cooked with rest of  the vegetables.

Add bell peppers and fry it uncovered with onions for a minute on medium flame. Throw in the spices, chickpeas and red kidney beans and mix everything well, cook covered for 2-3 minutes.

Open and add Harissa Paste, mix again and turn off.. Look at the cous cous, it must be fluffy and soft by now

When done flake with a fork and mix in with the veg,  squeeze in the Lemon juice and Vinegar and give a final stir. Garnish with fresh coriander and spring onion bits for that extra crunch and taste. 

My Notes:

If you don’t have Harissa Paste, and don’t wish to make it from scratch. You may just add garlic, cumin seeds and crushed red dried chilies to the above list of Ingredient. Before frying onion, fry these three things in oil and then do as the recipe follows. Since Cous Cous has a very bland taste, this will provide in extra flavour to the final dish.

You may wish to add more veggies to this, some other good options are : - Aubergines ( eggplants), Courgettes, Baby corns, even diced potatoes if you want.

You may add herbs to the same as well,  while you pour in boiling water to the Cous Cous :- dried Parsley and Mint blends very well with the texture

Choose colourful veggies like red bell pepper and baby corns if making for kids, and omit harissa or its alternative to keep it simple.

When I say boiling water, it actually means hot water . I just chose the word boiling to make sure you don’t use lukewarm water

Linking this to Jagruti's Potluck Party for this month's entry