Thursday 12 January 2017

Chicken And Couscous Salad

Happy New Year, folks!  Hope you had a fabulous festive season.  I caught a ghastly bug on Christmas Eve, can you believe?  So Christmas Day meant hallucinating in 38C heat at my cousin's, while the rest of the family enjoyed a huge lunch and a swim at the beach.  Ever tried to find a chemist open on Boxing Day at the seaside?

We had this salad twice over the Xmas break; my niece asked me for the recipe immediately.  Her brother texted me while we were in Melbourne to ask for my Dutch potato salad recipe, and hubby's sister texted for my berry semi-freddo recipe.  Phew! Just as well I had blogged them, so I was able to direct them to my posts.  Oh, and a friend asked for my guacamole recipe this week (thanks Sophie Dahl).  Happy to be the recipe repository for the family:=)




gather the ingredients




ingredients:


300g. couscous

260mls boiling water

1 tsp sea salt 

zest and juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 whole BBQ chicken, skin off, meat chopped into bite sized pieces

3 of the spring onions that have big bulbs - not sure of the name - thinly sliced

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves - more or less as you prefer - finely sliced

1/3 cup mint leaves or parsley or chives - use your fave herb - finely chopped

2-3 radishes, thinly sliced

3-4 tbs currants and/or barberries

100g. fetta, diced 

a handful of brazil nuts or your fave nuts, chopped

3-4 tbs olive oil - I used lime pressed olive oil

2-3 tbs vinegar

salt and pepper to taste



Method:


Place the couscous in a large bowl or a large Pyrex jug

Add the boiling water, salt, lemon zest and juice, and stir well

Put aside for 5 minutes covered

After 5 mins, give it a good stir with a fork to fluff it up

If you used a Pyrex jug for the couscous, at this point tip it into a large bowl for mixing

Add all the other ingredients and toss really well till combined


Notes:


Use whatever herbs and nuts you fancy.  Try French shallots or normal spring onions if you like.  Splash with a flavoured vinegar for extra tang - I used raspberry vinegar  

The original recipe came from a magazine - Cuisine perhaps? - but I have adapted to our tastes and added extra ingredients and flavourings







salt and lemon zest/juice go into the couscous bowl 







fluff up the couscous with a fork 








ready for mixing








and mix!








looks a bit murky but tastes delicious 








my herby doodle


8 comments:

  1. Oh no Sherry! That's no good at all. I know of a few people who got sick over Christmas. Maybe something was going around. Hehe you know a dish is good when people ask for the recipe immediately!

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    Replies
    1. I guess a bug was going the rounds. Not fair at xmas:(

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  2. Happy New Year Sherry! My god, what a nightmare to be ill like that. It's even worse when it's so hot. I bet you're loving the Brissie weather at the moment lol. Isn't it just HORRIBLE?

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    Replies
    1. Happy new year Jem. It was very ghastly:). Took ages to get better.

      Delete
  3. Oh this looks so good i need to try it x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is good but it may be even better with a yoghurt dressing:)

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  4. This was the most amazing addition to the Pickings repertoire. The extras that Mrs P added really lifted it. The radishes were a delightful surprise because they added flavourful crunch. Really worth trying, especially with peppercorn sauce, as we tried one time.

    ReplyDelete

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