10-Minute CousCous Salad Recipe | Crunchy & Delicious

Couscous is a type of Pasta, made of semolina (‘Suji’ in Hindi) and wheat flour. It can be eaten as a snack or even as the main dish and offers a healthy replacement for rice. Easy to cook and delicious to taste.

Health Benefits of Couscous:

Among the various benefits of Couscous, a few are listed below:

• Great Source of Protein
• Rich in Dietary Fibre: Helps in weight management and keeps digestive system on track
• Rich source of Essential Vitamins & Minerals

Where to search for Couscous in the Grocery Store:

I really had to struggle to find Couscous in my grocery store as I did not know where to find it. I think I must have searched each and every shelf of the dry foodstuff section until I found it in the Pasta Section. In some other stores, it is also kept beside the rice section or even in the International Food Section. So you may want to have a search at these sections first when looking for Couscous.

Types of Couscous:

• Israeli Couscous/ Pearl Couscous: This type of Couscous is larger in size. It has more nutty flavour and is of a bit chewier texture. Being larger in size it takes longer to cook.
• Libyan or Lebanese Couscous: This type of Couscous is smaller in size than Israeli Couscous. It is more grainy in texture and less nutty in flavour. It takes very little time to cook.

Basic Couscous Salad Recipe:

Ingredients Couscous (Libyanese): 1 Cup Red Capsicum: 1/2 cup finely chopped Green Capsicum: 1/2 cup finely chopped Cucumber: 1/2 cup finely chopped Baby Corn: 1/4 cup chopped Pomegranate: 1/2 cup Cilantro: 1/2 cup chopped Green Chilli: 1-2 medium sized chopped Walnuts: 1/4 cup chopped Dried Cranberry: 1/4 cup sliced Salt: to taste Black Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon

Once you know the basics, you can add whatever combination of healthy ingredients like chickpeas or baked beans, etc. into it to make it a full meal for yourself. You can even add non-veggie ingredients into it.

Preparations:

Method to Cook Couscous:

1. Put 1 cup couscous in a large bowl
2. Pour 1.5 cups boiling water into the bowl.
3. Put 1/4 teaspoon salt and mix well (just enough for the salt to dissolve) and cover the bowl with the lid.
4. Keep it aside for 10-12 minutes.
5. In 10-12 min your couscous will be cooked. You will see it increased in size.
6. Take a fork and gently fluff it up.

Let’s Make the Salad:

1. In the same bowl, put the chopped cucumber, capsicums, baby corn, cilantro, green chilli, pomegranate and mix well.
2. Add a little more salt and pepper and mix again very gently.
3. Add Walnuts and dried cranberry
4. Refrigerate it.

Couscous Salad is generally eaten cold straight out of the refrigerator. It is healthy, filling and absolutely delicious. By your choice of ingredients, you can make it tastier, nuttier and more colourful.

Do let me know how was your experience with preparing couscous.