December 2, 2009

Festive Pomegranate Couscous

I could bore you to tears by telling you how much I adore couscous and its immense flexibility. I could also go into a dizzying amount of detail about the history and origin of these wonderful semolina grains. Or, I could save you (and me) the time by simply telling you that this salad tastes amazing and is absolutely worthy of your efforts! If you don't mind, I'll go with the latter.

The salty feta cheese in this recipe is complemented by the sweet pomegranate seeds. The pine nuts offer a subtle crunch and the red onion produces just the right amount of bite. The glorious vibrancy of the fresh coriander is the perfect finishing touch.

Finally, the Red, White and Green colours that make up this salad remind me of Christmas and Christmas is, well...fabulous!

Serves 4-6

1 cup couscous
Just over 1 cup boiling chicken or vegetable stock ( I always add a tiny bit more stock than couscous )
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (substitute dried cranberries if desired)
1/3 cup good quality crumbled feta cheese
1/2 small English cucumber, diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Large handful coriander (cilantro) roughly chopped

Tip couscous into a bowl, pour over the boiling stock and cover with a tight fitting lid. Leave for about ten minutes.

Fluff up couscous with a fork. Add all of the salad ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Enjoy with a glass of fruity Rosé.


22 comments:

  1. Jennie, you have made me craving for some couscous now!

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  2. Wow..i feel so hungry now..

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  3. It has nice color.
    looks delicious!!

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  4. Jennie,

    I am back to return the favor. Thanks again for visiting me, and I'm now your newest follower!
    I adore cous cous, and I see you have something Brie-related below, will have to check it out. I am addicted to food!

    Have a great day!

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  5. The texture combination sounds quite nice...and the flavors, so unique. I do love adding pine nuts. Such a sublte nutty/buttery flavor.

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  6. What a great combination. I believe that couscous is like a blank canvas and can be turned into an ultimate masterpiece with your favorite ingredients. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I have never try couscous before. Looks tempting.

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  8. Beautiful salad! Have you tried quinoa? It's similar to couscous but has it's own nutty taste and a bit more bite.

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  9. This is such a festive dish! You put me in the holiday spirit just by looking at it. And I'm pretty sure tasting it would send me over the edge.

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  10. I love the way this looks, beautiful colours! It's certainly a fitting dish for the holidays.

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  11. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you'll be back again soon!

    You have a beautiful blog. Your pictures and recipes are amazing!

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  12. This is a festive cous-cous dish. Feta and pomegranate...a really nice flavor combination. Nice!!!!

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  13. Huge fan of cous cous too but I never cook with it as much as I would like to. Love the flavors!

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  14. This looks delicious and very refreshing. I love putting pomegranate into salad. The cranberry idea is good too. They are not that easy to come by here though.

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  15. Perfect I was looking for a unique coucous recipe. I love the addition of the pomegranates, especially with them being in season.

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  16. You must have been reading my mind as I made a dish so similar to this...well mainly the title, but with pom and all. I do love your addition of the feta so I will have to try that on mine next. This has me craving more!

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  17. That is exactly a festive dish!!
    Looks so refreshing!
    hugs hugs

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  18. This is such a gorgeous dish! Maybe I'll bring it to my in laws for Christmas brunch.

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  19. ciao! grazie della tua visita nel mio blog!

    Il tuo blog è bellissimo! sei bravissima! complimenti!!!!
    ciao!

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  20. I adore all of the colors, flavors and textures in this recipe.

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  21. This is a perfect couscous recipe for the holidays! I love pomegranate.

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