Couscous and chickpea salad
25 July 2011 § 3 Comments
I’ve been trying to make more single meals – so no separate kids’ food. But there are some things The Ladies™ still have a bit of a problem with – couscous and chickpeas being two of them – I think it is a texture thing, as they are usually pretty adventurous for four and a half. The larder was bare and we needed dinner, and guess what was in there…yup, a can of chick peas and plenty of couscous.
Before they could start whining that they did not like chickpeas I sent them both out to the garden – one of them to pick the tomatoes and the other to pick basil and mint. We made a quick salad and they were so distracted by the act of gathering ingredients they forgot to complain and ate a decent amount.
Recipe for this quick, vegan salad:
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 cup couscous
- 1½ cups boiling water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ red onion finely chopped
- Handful of fresh basil and mint – finely chopped
- ½ red pepper seeded and chopped
- ½ yellow pepper seeded and chopped
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Boil the water in a pan (make sure it has a tight-fitting lid) add the salt and olive oil, when boiling add the couscous. Stir well. Cover and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork so the couscous is light and does not stick together.
In a bowl mix the couscous and all the vegetables and herbs.
Make the salad dressing by whisking the oil into the vinegar. Taste and season.
Pour the dressing onto the salad and make sure it is evenly coated.
Jealous of your garden as always. And that you’ve trained your two sous-chefs so well! We just learned how to make cous cous in school – it’s a bit of a process, but I’m thinking of trying, so will keep this recipe in mind.
Rebecca, couscous is so easy – as long as you have the water to couscous ratio right. A bit of butter in there makes it taste even better than with olive oil!
[...] Couscous and Chickpea Salad* (from This Little Piggy Went to the Farmer’s Market) [...]