{"id":425,"date":"2010-06-30T02:13:46","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T10:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/?p=425"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:10:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:10:18","slug":"couscous-salad-with-tomatoes-olives-herbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/?p=425","title":{"rendered":"Couscous Salad with Tomatoes, Olives &#038; Herbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/wp-content\/images\/couscous-salad.jpg\" alt=\"Couscous Salad with Olives, Tomatoes &#038; Herbs\" \/><br \/>\n<em>\u2014 Serves 8-10<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Israeli couscous (also called &#8216;pearl couscous&#8217;) is much larger than the tiny, fluffy North African version. The semolina nuggets are toasted in an open-flame oven, giving them a distinctive, nutty flavor.  Paired with juicy summer-ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, and the sprightly tastes of  nicoise olives, fresh herbs, lemon and harissa, it makes a flavorful and refreshing Summer salad.  Harissa is a traditional hot chilli paste used in North African cooking. Adding cubed feta cheese and\/or cooked, drained garbanzo beans transforms it from a side dish to a meal in itself. <\/p>\n<p>*Items marked in <span class=\"ingredient\">green<\/span> are available from The Gourmet Corner.<\/p>\n<p>Suggested wine pairing: l&#8217;Opale de la Presqu&#8217;\u00eele de Saint-Tropez Ros\u00e9<\/p>\n<h3>Couscous<\/h3>\n<p><em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 cups chicken broth (or, for a vegetarian salad, use water with a little salt)<\/li>\n<li>2 cups uncooked <span class=\"ingredient\">Israeli-style couscous<\/span><\/li>\n<li>3 Tbs  <span class=\"ingredient\">olive oil<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Heat the stock or water to a simmer.  In a large, flat pan, over medium-high heat, toast the couscous in 3 Tbs  olive oil until lightly browned. Pour the hot stock over the  the couscous, then simmer uncovered for 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. <\/p>\n<h3>Lemon-Harissa Dressing<\/h3>\n<p><em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3 tbs lemon juice<\/li>\n<li>1 tsp (or more to taste) <span class=\"ingredient\">harissa paste<\/span><\/li>\n<li>4 Tbs <span class=\"ingredient\">olive oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ingredient\">La Baleine sea salt<\/span> to taste<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Combine all ingredients in a jar or container with a tightly-fitting lid. Cover and shake well until completely blended. Refrigerate until needed. <\/p>\n<h3>Couscous Salad<\/h3>\n<p><em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1\/2 small red onion, in 1\/4-inch dice<\/li>\n<li>1 cup boiling water<\/li>\n<li>1 pint mixed cherry tomatoes, halved<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup <span class=\"ingredient\">nicoise olives<\/span>, pitted and quartered lengthwise<\/li>\n<li>2 cups  cucumber slices (if using small, Persian-type cucumbers or English hothouse-type cucumbers, the peel and seeds can be left in. If using large, American-style cucumbers,  cucumbers, peel and seed them, and cut the slices in half &#8212; the cucumber slices should be about the same size as the tomato chunks)<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 cup chopped mint<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Put the chopped onion in a sieve or colander. Pour the boiling water over the onion, stirring it around a bit as you do so (this helps take some of the &#8216;bite&#8217; out of the onion). Drain well.<\/p>\n<p>Place the couscous in a large bowl.  Stir well to break it up, then stir in the onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and herbs. <\/p>\n<p>Shake the dressing well to emulsify it, then drizzle over the salad. Toss gently to distribute the dressing, then serve immediately.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: to transform the couscous into a main-dish salad, add a cup of  diced feta cheese and\/or cooked, drained garbanzo beans. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli couscous, paired with juicy summer tomatoes, cucumbers, and the sprightly tastes of  nicoise olives and fresh herbs makes a flavorful and refreshing salad for Summer barbecues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}