341. Couscous, Pomegranate and Pine Nut Salad

This is efficiency at its best. A substantial, flavorsome, and incredibly textured salad made and ready to eat within 10 to 12 minutes.
Couscous is a staple carbohydrate consumed regularly in Northern African countries, much like rice in the Arabian Gulf countries. It forms an excellent base for any flavors you want to add (like in Couscous and Grilled Summer Vegetables Salad ).

The great thing about couscous, it requires no actual cooking to be ready. All you do is add to it an equal volume of boiling liquid and let it sit covered for 10 minutes. Fluff it up with a fork and you are good to go.
The delicate crunch of the pine nuts, and the rich burst of ripe ruby pomegranate seeds yield so much more reward than the effort put in its making.
Adapted from Wandering Spice.

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous

1 cup water, chicken or vegetable stock, boiling

1 pomegranate, seeded

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon, juice

salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: fresh coriander, for garnish

Method:

Place the couscous in a medium-sized bowl.

Pour the hot water or stock over the couscous, stir once, then immediately cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a small frying pan, dry toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat, shaking constantly, until golden brown.

Remove the plastic wrap from the couscous.

Use a fork to gently fluff up the grains.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, to taste, and stir to combine.

Serve sprinkled with the pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts, lemon wedges and fresh coriander, if using.

 صحة و عافية