This couscous salad with feta is an easy to make mouthful of summer. It’s Easter Monday today, and it’s rained so much one of our flower beds has developed a small lake. We can’t complain, though, it’s been snowing in some areas, and we’ve had snow on and off all spring.
I love finding new flavour combinations, and I adore citrus flavours. Do you like oranges? We have some sort of orange in our fruit bowl most weeks, and there are always clementines in the Christmas stockings. Back when that tradition started, though, oranges were a treat, a touch of the exotic. And that’s just what they bring to this meal. When I was researching Moroccan salads to bring a little North African flavour I found a lot of carrot and orange salads. So why not combine them with couscous for a one dish meal?
Tips for Couscous Salad with Feta
I don’t claim any kind of authenticity for this dish, but the sweetness of the carrots and orange and the warmth of the cumin really lift me out of this dreary and wet April. You can just pile it into bowls and dig in as an easy weeknight dinner or a quick lunch. However, I also think this couscous salad with feta would be sublime with grilled lamb kebabs. Why not make a batch for your next barbecue, cook out or potluck?
I found the flavours really improved with a day in the fridge. By mixing the cumin into the stock I used to soak the couscous everything was infused with a subtle cumin-y warmth.I used tinned oranges simply because they’re cheap and really convenient, and they come in really small purposes. Just what I needed to stud this couscous salad with feta with tiny jewel like bursts of sweetness. You could, of course, use fresh orange but it will take extra time to prepare.
It would be ideal if you can to make the salad ahead of time so the couscous has time to cool fully – keep it in a separate bowl until it’s cool. However, by the time you’ve prepped all the other ingredients it should be cool enough.
Why not try with grilled lamb?
The sweetness of orange and carrot are perfectly balanced with the saltiness of the feta in this salad. It's a perfect quick summer meal, or take it along to a barbecue or potluck. Serves 2-3 as a main meal, more as a side
- 170 g couscous 6 oz/1 us cup
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 800 ml vegetable stock/bouillon 3.4 us cups
- 2 carrots
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 200 g feta 7 oz
- 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 14 oz
- 1 can mandarin orange segments 11 oz
- sprig of mint
Prepare the hot vegetable stock/bouillon and stir in the ground cumin. Place the dried couscous in a suitable bowl, pour the liquid over and stir. Stir periodically - it will take around 20 minutes to soak in.
Grate the carrots and cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters.
Cut the feta cheese into big chunks. Open and drain the cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and orange segments.
When the couscous is fully soaked leave to cool if desired and mix all the ingredients into the couscous. Garnish with mint leaves.
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