Middle Eastern Couscous Salad

This is the perfect accompaniment to a creamy curry or tagine, or as a barbecue side salad. Packed with dried fruit, toasted nuts, green herbs, citrus and pomegranate seeds, this has all of the flavours of Western Asia and the beautiful colours make an elegant and stunning dish on the table. Although quite a hefty list of ingredients, there aren't many steps as it is pretty much just a case of combining everything together.


Recipe

250g couscous
1 red onion (100g), thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves (12g), crushed
1.5 tsp citrus zest (lemon or lime or a combination of both)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2.5 tbsp orange juice
1.25 tsp toasted cumin seeds
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
100g dried fruit (raisins, chopped apricots, chopped figs or a mix of 3)
30g roughly chopped fresh herbs (coriander, parsley, mint or a mix of 3)
80g pomegranate seeds
150g toasted nuts (flaked almonds and pistachios or a mix of both)

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients from the red onion through to the pomegranate seeds together and let sit in a bowl for as long as possible, preferably overnight. This will allow the red onion to soften and the dried fruit to plump up in the citrus juices.
Cook the couscous according to packet instructions, usually by soaking in hot water for about 10 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.
Mix the couscous and the nuts into the rest of the ingredients. I find that mixing by hand is easiest. Serve at room temperature.

Recipe by CAMYOGA Chef Alice Kabala

Alice Kabala

Alice fell in love with cooking after deciding to turn vegan in 2011, and being confronted with numerous mediocre offerings on the vegan food scene.

Stemming from a love of eating, and a staunch refusal to eat substandard food, she began experimenting with ways of preparing vegan fare in a more exciting manner. Vegan for environmental and ethical reasons, she aims to promote the importance of a more sustainable diet: buying and eating local and seasonal plant foods, limiting waste and eating mindfully. Keen to encourage a change in people’s eating habits and to eliminate the stigma surrounding ‘vegan food’, she seeks to demonstrate how veganism can be just as satisfying as a meat-based or vegetarian diet, yet much healthier and rewarding! She loves cooking a broad array of hot and cold savoury dishes, but firmly eschews almost all forms of baking: breads, pastries and sponges do not feature regularly on her menu! As well as cooking and designing menus at CAMYOGA, she contributes towards their very own blog, where her recipes sit alongside various resources for developing healthier and happier lives.

When she’s away from work, she posts on her personal food blog which focuses solely on healthy vegan recipes and aims to educate people about the ingredients on their plate, as well as instruction on how to cook with them.

http://www.thoughtfulforkfuls.com/
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