Green Couscous Salad ☘️

I can’t herb my enthusiasm for this Ottolenghi inspired green couscous salad.

🍠I almost always accessorise this salad with small pieces of baked sweet potato. This really takes it to another level in taste and appearance 👌🏻Simply cut the sweet potato into small pieces, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven. Make sure the pieces are firm but cooked (don't overcook). This will vary with the size of your pieces. 

I save time by chopping the spring onions and chilli in my Magimix, since it has already been used to make the green paste. No need to even rinse in between.

In my opinion, this salad needs quite a bit more salt, so be sure to taste test. For this reason, it also lends itself well to small feta cheese pieces.

I hope you enjoy making!

Ingredients

• 150g couscous
• 160ml boiling water or vegetable stock
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 50g shelled unsalted pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
• 3 spring onions, chopped finely
• fresh green chilli, finely sliced
• At least 30-50g rocket, chopped

• 20g parsley (1/3 cup)
• 20g coriander (1 cup)
• 2 tbsp chopped tarragon
• 2 tbsp chopped dill
• 2 tbsp chopped mint
• 4-5 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Place the couscous in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water or stock. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, fry the onion in the olive oil on a medium heat until golden and completely soft. Add the salt and cumin and mix well. Transfer to a plate to cool down, because if you leave it in your fry pan, it will continue to cook.
3. To make the herb paste, put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
4. Add the herb paste to the couscous and mix everything together well with a fork to fluff it up.
5. Next, add the cooked onion, pistachios, spring onions, green chilli and rocket and gently mix. Serve at room temperature.