Couscous with herbs & vegetables
One of the challenges of working with large groups of children in the kitchen is keeping their attention. Once you lose it, it can be difficult getting it back. If we can keep the kids working with their hands, they stay focused. This couscous salad is one of those dishes that requires lots of handiwork chopping vegetables and herbs–perfect for our food appeciation classes. It also happens to be a delicious way to enjoy spring vegetables.
We’ve spent the entire school year visiting different countries in Africa on our virtual world food tour. Finally we have arrived in North Africa, specifically Morocco where the favorite starch is couscous. Couscous is not a grain, but rather a pre-cooked wheat product that is then milled into tiny bits. In Morocco, cousous is served with all sorts of stews to sop up the flavorful juices. The preferred method of cooking it is in a steamer.
But couscous also works perfectly well tossed with vegetables and herbs as a salad. This may not be a traditional North African use of couscous, but using it as an ingredient more than a separate side dish works for us. I’ve found that couscous can be cooked very easily just by adding hot water. Then toss it with seasonal vegetables and your favorite herbs and season as you would a salad using extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
For vegetables, we chose carrots, red onion and peas. Fennel and fava beans would also work fine, as would chopped nuts, such as walnuts or almonds, or pumpkin seeds. Lots of parsley and mint add color, flavor and texture. But really, there are no set rules with this very Mediterranean salad. Use your imagination.
I like to buy my couscous in bulk, preferably whole wheat, which is available at health food stores. But it also comes in a box at most supermarkets. Place 1 1/2 cups in a large bowl and cover with boiling water to a depth of 1/2 inch. Cover the couscous with a pot lid, leaving some room for it to expand. It will absorb the water and be ready to eat in just a few minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and cut two medium carrots into small dice and cook until just tender in a pan of boiling water. Similarly, cook 1/2 cup fresh peas (or substitute frozen) until just tender. Cut 1/2 large red onion into small dice and saute these in a skillet with extra-virgin olive oil until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Season with salt to draw out the juices and speed the process along.
Put the cooked vegetables aside. Next, remove the leaves from several sprigs of parsley and chop into small bits. Chop a fistful of mint leaves into small bits as well.
Use a large metal or wooden spoon to loosen the cooked couscous from the bottom of its bowl. Toss and stir to separate the grains, which tend to be stuck together in clumps at this point. Stir in the cooked vegetables and herbs. Add juice from 1/2 lemon and season to taste with extra-virgin olive oil and salt.
For more great stories about how we are taking back our food system, check out Fight Back Friday.
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
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