Monday, November 15, 2010

Taboule Provencale (Seasoned Couscous Salad)

The fine semolina grain from north Africa appears in many forms of French cooking. A popular item on cafe menus is the salade de couscous, also known as tabouleh. Instead of using bulgar in their tabouleh salad, the French often use couscous, which is slightly more refined...just like the French! This recipe is adapted from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells.

Difficulty Level: Facile


What you need:

  • 1/2 cup precooked couscous
  • 1/2 cup parsley leaves
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
  • 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped
  • 5 thin scallions, white bulb cut into thin rounds
  • 1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt, to taste
What to do:
  1. In a small bowl, place chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and set aside. 
  2. Place the couscous in a medium-size bowl, fluff with a fork and stir in the dressing. Taste for seasoning. 
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, but no more than 4 hours. Adjust seasoning before serving, adding additional lemon juice or salt to taste.  Serves: 2   Bon Appetit!

5 comments:

  1. I love the flavors of tabouli. Sometimes I use quinoa or millet (rather than bulgur) when I make it, depending on my mood and/or pantry. However I haven't tried couscous. I should make it with Israel couscous or fregola sometime. I bet farro would be good too. Hmmmm, too many ideas and not enough time. ;-)

    Ali

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  2. Yum! That looks fantastic. Almost tabouli-like. :-) BTW, I've finally gotten around to adding this to my blog roll. Sorry it took me so long....took a while to get back into the swing of things after my long vacation.

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  3. Ali, I will have to try those versions as well!
    Merci, Bianca.

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  4. looks lovely! can you use quinoa as a substitute for couscous?

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  5. Absolutely, I think quinoa would be an excellent substitute!

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