Food & Wine
Fetta and couscous salad
Apart from being an excellent source of starchy carbohydrate, couscous is a great background for other ingredients. In this lunch salad, both raw and lightly steamed vegetables are added to the couscous together with toasted almonds, fresh mint and creamy fetta.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: About 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (230g) couscous
- 300ml hot vegetable stock
- 170g slim asparagus spears, halved
- 2 zucchinis, cut into thin sticks
- 1 red capsicum, seeded and cut into thin strips
- ⅓ cup (30g) toasted flaked almonds
- Handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 170g fetta
- Chilli dressing
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
- Put the couscous into a large bowl and pour over the hot stock.
- Set aside to soak for 15-20 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Meanwhile, steam the asparagus for 3 minutes.
- Add the zucchini and continue steaming for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are just tender but still retain some crunch.
- Tip the vegetables into a colander and refresh under cold running water.
- Drain well.
- To make the dressing, combine the oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic, chilli flakes, and salt and pepper to taste in a screw-top jar.
- Shake well to blend and emulsify the mixture.
- Fluff up the couscous with a fork, then fold in the capsicum strips, almonds, mint, and asparagus and zucchini.
- Pour over the dressing and stir gently together.
- Crumble the fetta over the top and serve.
This recipe first appeared in Reader’s Digest. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, here’s our best subscription offer.