Couscous Salad Recipe
This Moroccan couscous salad with chickpeas and vegetables is hearty yet light, aromatic, summery, and packed with color and flavor. A dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan side or main in just 15 minutes!
Servings 4
Ingredients
Couscous Salad:
- 1 1/2 cups (250 g) instant couscous (see notes)
- 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) vegetable broth
- 3 small (140 g) bell peppers diced
- 2 medium (200 g) tomatoes diced
- 1 small (160 g) cucumber diced
- 1/2 bunch of parsley chopped
- 3 stalks spring onions sliced
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas drained and rinsed
Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp (40 g) tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp vegetable broth
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp Ras el Hanout spice blend (see notes)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.First, add the couscous to a medium bowl, bring the vegetable broth to a boil, and pour it over the couscous, mixing well. Then, leave it to sit, for 5-10 minutes until tender. Fluff it with a fork.
- Meanwhile, wash and dice the peppers, tomatoes, and cucumber. Plus, slice the spring onions, chop the parsley, and drain and rinse the can of chickpeas.
- To prepare the dressing, add the tomato paste, lemon juice, and vegetable broth to a bowl and whisk well. Then add the olive oil, maple syrup, and Ras el Hanout spice blend, and whisk well. Try it and add salt to taste.
- Mix the couscous, vegetables, and dressing in a large bowl, and toss well. Give it a taste and adjust any elements (i.e., more spices, lemon juice, etc.). Enjoy!
Notes
- Couscous: To make the recipe gluten-free, use cooked quinoa or millet.
- Ras el Hanout: Use store-bough Ras el Hanout or make your own. I made my own spice blend by blending the following spices in an electric spice grinder. Then I used 1.5 tsp of the spice blend for the couscous salad recipe and saved the rest for the next dish. If you don't have all spices, just use the ones you have and make your own blend.
- 1 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves