Meals Matter

Chicken & Couscous Summer Salad

Contributed By: keralucu
Jamie Oliver and myself!

This is a different recipe because the couscous is not cooked which gives it an interesting texture for a salad...

Ingredients

2 Chicken fillets, sliced into strips

255g Couscous

285ml Cold water

3 Red peppers

1 Handful of asparagus, trimmed

2 Or 3 small firm zucchini/courgettes

1 Small bunch of spring onions, trimmed & finely sliced

2-4 Fresh red chillies, deseeded & finely sliced

3 Good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs(basil, coriander, mint, flat-leaf parsley)

Red wine vinegar

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

2 X olive oil & lemon juice dressing

Preparation

Olive oil & lemon juice dressing - 2 tbsp lemon juice, 5 tbsp olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Marinate the chicken in whatever spices you like - since this is a Middle Eastern-style dish, I like to use a little cinnammon powder, cumin powder and koriander powder,salt and pepper, drizzle olive oil over, mix it all up and leave in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the chicken strips til done. Set aside.

Put the couscous in a bowl with the cold water. It will start to absorb and you'll need to stir and separate the grains with a fork otherwise it goes into a big clump.

Blacken the peppers by placing them directly onto the naked gas flame, if you don't have gas, blacken them under the grill (broiler). The peppers need to be blackened on all sides so make sure to turn them over. When completely blackened, cover in a bowl for 5 mins until cool. This will steam the skins and make peeling and deseeding easier. Remove the skins and seeds and roughly chop.

On a very hot ridged grill pan, lightly char the asparagus and zucchini on both sides and toss into the bowl of couscous with the chicken strips, peppers, spring onions, chillies and ripped up herbs. Mix well. Add the olive oil and lemon juice dressing and toss well. Finally taste and season with salt and pepper and a couple of dribbles of red wine vinegar for a slight twang.... delicious.

Cook's Notes

Very easy to make and the mixture of all the different herbs with the tart lemon juice dressing is really delicious. You can also vary the vegetables used, as long as they taste good after grilling.

Recipe Comments

Commented by: judysworld

This was a great salad. Instead of zucchini, I used cucumbers and left out the mint. I also added cherry tomatoes, halved. The taste was fresh and you didn't feel guilty eating it. A girlfriend of mine came over and now she is hooked!

 

Rate This Recipe

Scroll over the empty stars to rate.
  2 ratings
  Read (1)/Add a Comment

Recipe Details

Total Preparation Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Ingredients: Chicken & Turkey
Vegetables
Salads & Dressings
Actual Cooking Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Number of Servings: 4
Origin: Mediterranean & Mid-Eastern
Special Features: Quick to Prepare (under 30 minutes)