Couscous or Rice Salad
Couscous is a wonderful grain and change of pace from rice. It is
a staple in the Maghreb, the northwest area of Africa that includes Morocco,
Tunisia and Algeria. A “couscous mini-cuisine” has evolved there.
The base grain of couscous is durum wheat— a very hard wheat with high
protein. The durum endosperm is used to make couscous grain and is
also milled to make semolina flour. Like rice, couscous readily takes
on spices, seasonings and sauces. Most supermarkets carry a packaged couscous,
with small, almost fine, grains. It comes plain and seasoned--buy
plain. Here is a more authentic way to make
it than you'll find on box tops or in cookbooks. Steaming produces
a lighter fluffier couscous and is therefore worth the time.
We currently are repainting and reshelving the pantries in the kitchen,
so all the contents are spread out over the kitchen counter and the dining
and living room floors. In the process of getting everything out, we came
across an ancient bag of very short grain basmati
rice, from my teaching days eight years ago. So, to use it up,
I made this dish with the rice instead of couscous. I prefer using
couscous but the rice worked nicely too. This is great side dish and easy
to make. Here's how:
Couscous or Rice Salad
See Abbreviations, if needed
Yield: about 10 servings as a side
• 10 oz couscous
• 1 C plain yogurt
• 2 T red wine
vinegar
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 3 T EVOO, your
best quality
• 2 C diced yellow
and red peppers
• 1 C diced scallions
or shallots
• 1/2 C diced calamata olives
• 1 C minced fresh
parsley or cilantro
• S/P to taste
1. Prep couscous or rice
and cool
2. Combine yogurt, red wine vinegar, and mustard in large stainless
steel bowl
3. Whisk in EVOO
4. Whisk in other ingredients and then add the grain
5. Toss to coat
6. Serve ambient |
