A pretty cous cous salad

Time to call a spade a spade and be honest about one thing. Cous cous is two minute noodles for grown-ups. It’s just a bit of weirdly rubbery, but rewardingly tasty stuff that gets boiled in water, lathered in seasoning and inhaled at warp speed with a kind of undimmed fury.

I’ve embraced the notion of dressing it up here with salad that is as close as you might get to eating a bunch of flowers from a plate. Pretty non? There is an emphasis on fresh herbs and some zingy fruit pieces which lightens the whole proposition and if you were wanting to make a real meal out of it, serve it with a silky hummus whipped up with tahini and lots of fluffy, warm flatbread washed down with icy cold white wine. Yep that is definitely a meal for grown ups.

 Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

170g Israeli cous cous

500ml chicken stock

pinch saffron threads

1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled, segmented

saffron threads

1 small handful of cranberries

1 small handful of watercress leaves

6 tbsp Persian feta

1 tbsp dried flowers*

Dressing

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Method

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add couscous and stir to toast and coat (1-2 minutes). Add chicken stock, saffron threads and a pinch of salt, bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until tender (8-10 minutes). Drain off any excess liquid and set aside. While the cous cous is still slightly warm, add the Persian feta and stir gently to combine. Turn out into a serving dish and top with remaining ingredients.

Mix the dressing ingredients, stir to combine and dissolve the sugar then drizzle over the dressing to taste, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

* Available from the Essential Ingredient or the Melbourne Food Depot