Cous Cous Salad

So far, all of the recipes in this blog come from past meals. This one, however, I have just finished making and it is going to be served tonight when we have four guests coming to dinner. It is  baking hot in Fredericksburg (but not the soggy, oppressive heat I remember from my native Louisiana…when people in Virginia complain about the summer heat and humidity, I always think; “If they only knew!”) So we are having a cold buffet.

The Cous Cous salad is going to be one dish of a meal that will also include chicken salad and shrimp salad, served with a Sauvignon Blanc, and followed by a chocolate mousse from our cherished Wegmans. I couldn’t make a better one.

Ingredients:

20 ounces  of plain Cous Cous

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

4 cups of water

Put water, oil, and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil

Add Cous Cous, turn off heat and cover.

Let sit for five minutes then uncover and gently fluff with a fork, breaking up all lumps

 Empty into a very large bowl.

Then add and mix in:

 1 medium zucchini, chopped and blanched in boiling salted water for one minute

6 Campari tomatoes, quartered and seeded (or cherry tomatoes, halved)

½ small  jalapeno, finely diced

½ cup of finely chopped fresh herbs: chives, parsley, tarragon, basil and mint

1 can of whole water chestnuts, drained and halved

¼ cup of pine nuts

¼ cup peeled and salted pistachio nuts

¼ cup roughly chopped roasted, salted almonds

Chopped green onion tops

One small sweet red pepper, seeded and minced

Juice of one lemon

¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Add extra olive oil if the salad seems too dry

Let chill in fridge for at least four hours.

Serves six as a side dish (I hope)

                             The finished Cous Cous Salad