Spiced Couscous Salad

Submitted by dk683

"One evening, I was in a rather exotic mood, so I came up with this dish. I ate it as the main meal, but it would go beautifully as a side dish accompanying roast lamb, duck, chicken or beef. The sweetness of the raisins and dates along with the aromatic spices and the crunchy toasted nuts go so well together. My inspiration? Well, of course the Middle East and...as ever, the lovely and talented Nigella Lawson."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 2 1/2-3 cups
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups couscous
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 175 g toasted assorted nuts (cashews, slivered almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts)
• 50 g raisins
• 50 g dates, pitted and chopped
• 15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• boiling water
• 1⁄2 cup fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

directions

1. If the nuts are not already toasted, add them to a hot oil-less pan over medium-high heat and toast until golden.
2. In a large bowl, mix the couscous with the spices, salt, raisins, dates and chickpeas.
3. Pour enough boiling water to cover the couscous so as to make half an inch of water over,.
4. Cover the bowl with a plate or with cling and wait 8-10 minutes, or whatever time it says on your packet of couscous.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with the chopped coriander
6. NOTE 1: the spices are to taste, so put in more or less of whatever you feel. If you think 1 teaspoons of salt is too much, then decrease, I personally added a few pinches of each spice to suit my taste, as you should to.
7. NOTE 2: Make sure the nuts that you buy are UNSALTED; you want to control the amount of salt in the finished product.
8. NOTE 3: This recipe is best used with a finer grain couscous, Israeli couscous does not have the right texture in my opinion, but hey! If you want to try it, then by all means…and let me know how it turns out!