A fragrant, filling and colourful salad that makes a fantastic packed lunch. This salad is a meal in itself, but you can also serve it as a side dish,
It works great with sticky lemon chicken or spiced lamb.
It's been a while since I published a recipe from my first book - Seriously Good Salads (<-- affiliate link) - which was published back in 2019.
Don't be fooled into thinking it's a book on low calorie, diet-style salads that make you want to drop-kick a head of lettuce.
I'd never do that to you!
It's all about the things you most like to eat, and then turning that into a salad.
Examples include:
- Buttermilk chicken cobb salad with homemade creamy ranch dressing
- Crispy halloumi salad with couscous and a beautiful lemon herb dressing
- Fried egg breakfast salad with figs, bacon and crispy bacon-fat croutons
- Lettuce wraps stuffed with spicy bulgogi beef
It's all about the salads that make me go 'Oooooh yes please'. Hopefully it'll do that for you too!
This particular salad can be served as a lunch or a side dish, and it goes down particularly well at BBQs and parties.
We've got spiced couscous and chickpeas all tossed together with colourful, vibrant ingredients - like pomegranate, orange segments, peppers and baby spinach.
🍽️ What to serve it with
If I'm making this as a side dish, I love to serve it up with:
👩🍳PRO TIP Serve it up on a lovely big platter and let everyone dig in.
This salad plus loads more non-boring, non-diet salad recipes are available in my Seriously Good Salads book.
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Moroccan Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion - peeled and finely chopped
- 397 g (14oz) can chickpeas - drained and rinsed
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp celery salt
- 175 g (1 cup) dried couscous
- 400 ml (1+⅔ cups) hot vegetable stock
- 2 oranges
- 1 red bell pepper - deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper - deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes - diced
- 60 g (2 cups) packed baby spinach leaves
- 95 g (¾ cup) dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 2 spring onions - scallions, sliced into thin strips
- 60 g (½ cup) packed parsley, chopped
- Seeds (arils) from quarter of a pomegranate
To Serve:
- 30 g (½ cup) packed parsley, chopped
- Seeds (arils) from quarter of a pomegranate
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often until the onion softens.1 tbsp oil, 1 onion
- Add the chickpeas, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and celery salt and stir together. Cook for a further 5 minutes, until the spices release their fragrance and the chickpeas have warmed through.397 g (14oz) can chickpeas, 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp celery salt
- Add the couscous and hot stock. Stir and bring to the boil, then place a lid on the pan, turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes.175 g (1 cup) dried couscous, 400 ml (1+⅔ cups) hot vegetable stock
- Meanwhile, use a sharp knife to cut the skin from the oranges. Cut the oranges into segments, over a bowl (reserve any juice the catches in the bowl).2 oranges
- Take the lid off the pan and pour the reserved orange juice into the pan. Fluff up the couscous using two forks.
- Add the red and green peppers, tomatoes, spinach, apricots, scallions, parsley and pomegranate seeds. Toss together and transfer to a serving bowl.1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 2 large tomatoes, 60 g (2 cups) packed baby spinach leaves, 95 g (¾ cup) dried apricots, roughly chopped, 2 spring onions, 60 g (½ cup) packed parsley, chopped, Seeds (arils) from quarter of a pomegranate
- Serve topped with the remaining parsley and pomegranate.30 g (½ cup) packed parsley, chopped, Seeds (arils) from quarter of a pomegranate
✎ Notes
Nutrition
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