Zesty Couscous Salad

Couscous has to be one of the most tasteless foods on the face of the earth.  Thankfully it has an ornate ability to soak up other flavours which makes it a much more interesting prospect!  Couscous originates from North Africa and is a staple in the North African diet.  It is is made from durum wheat and when cooked has a light and fluffy texture which provides a great altermative to pasta and rice.  To be perfectly honest, my only hesitation in using it is that it can be a bit tricky to get the ratio of couscous to water correct.  If it is wrong, it can be either gloopy  with too much water or clumpy with too little.

Through trial and error I have now discovered that the best ration is 1:1. You can use a little bit less if you want it dry for salads or a little bit more to make it sticky for sauces.

To make this lemony couscous salad, you will need:

2 cups of couscous

2 cups of boiling chicken stock

half a red pepper (very finely chopped)

3 spring onions (very finely chopped)

Zest and juice of half a lemon

1 heaped tablespoon of pine nuts

parsley to garnish

Instructions

place the couscous in a bowl and pour over the chicken stock and lemon juice (pour a little of the chicken stock out of the cup to make room for the lemon juice)

cover with cling film and allow the liquid to be absorbed

use a fork to fluff up the couscous and stir in the chopped pepper and spring onion

sprinkle over the  pine nuts and add a sprig of parsley

Serve and enjoy!