Now that the heat seems to have arrived (and looks to stay), we make the shift to summer food. Fast cooking, not so much time spent in the kitchen, and a lot of cooking on the barbecue…as long as we can find a shady spot for it.
Couscous ticks a lot of the boxes as it´s so quick and easy to prepare, and provides a blank canvas to work with. I´m sure many of you have your favourite ways of preparing it, and I´d love to hear what they are. Here are a couple of ways I´ve served it recently. Both versions serve 4 as a side dish and were made with 1 cup of cous cous prepared according to the packet instructions and served chilled.
Couscous with Mushrooms and Courgettes
- 1 medium onion, 1 cup mushrooms and 1 medium courgette all finely chopped and sautéed until soft.
- Mix with the cous cous, season and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and some finely chopped parsley.
Couscous with “Gazpacho”
- Inspired by our summer favourite, I mixed the cous cous with finely chopped red onion, tomato, cucumber, green pepper and mint and dressed it (after seasoning) with olive oil, white wine vinegar and some finely chopped mint.
Two simple dishes to inspire and feed you.
Chica Andaluza 
Yummy! I love a couscous salad for summer time…
And it´s so easy isn´t it!
Ooooh yeah! I love to make a Tabouleh with cooled down couscous. Just adding a ton of chopped herbs, spice it up a bit, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and lemon juice. YUM!
Perfect!
Coucous salads are perfect for Summer, Tanya, and you’ve shared 2 great recipes. The colors in your Gazpacho version are so vibrant and remind me of the Summer harvest. I’ll need to revisit this post in a few weeks, to be sure. 🙂
Yes, for some the heat hasn´t yet arrived but you´ll soon be sweltering in Chicago!
Muy rico Tanya 🙂 Te me has adelantado, el domingo para comer hice de primero un tabule, que es básicamente igual a tu segunda versión. Supongo que es verdad eso de que las grandes mentes piensan igual 😉
Pues si, es verdad que las grandes mentes piensan igual. me encanta tabule – ¿donde encuentres el bulgur?
Lo hice con sémola 😉
Ola….I love Gaspacho Cous cous….We have been in Marbella 3 weeks ago,and this salad was our favourite…..Best wishes,and huggs
Sounds like you had fun and enjoyed your time here in Andalucia!
Yes…we are coming in Marbella each year since 2009 …Nice place,nice people..
Lovely recipes Tanya. We also love couscous and this is one of my favourites:
http://wp.me/pT5Tj-de – sorry that there is no picture!
🙂 Mandy
I checked it out – what a fantastic recipe! And I bought a cauliflower this morning…. 🙂
Delicious recipes – shame that summer is over in the UK 😉
It´ll be back (for a few days at least). My parents told me they have the central heating on today while I am in the pool 😉
Well I’m fully prepared to go back to the oven and the Le Creuset is on standby 😉
Three cheers for the British Fighting Spirit!
Couc cous is makes a great meal. And your recipes are tempting, I make a simila rone to your Gazpacho, but I’ll have to try the courgette-mushroom combination – thank you 🙂
The great thing about couscous is that you can take it in any direction (and depending on what you have available)!
You know, I love couscous and i just don’t make it often enough..this is a great recipe to start with!! morning tanya! c
Also handy if you can´t rely on the cooker!
Oh, don’t they both sound wonderful! If we ever get some nice, warm weather, I’m making a pot for lunch!
Have to confess I scoffed most of the one with mushrooms and courgettes for lunch the other day!
WOW! This is amazing, I want to try, sounds so delicious… Thank you dear Chica, love, nia
Thank you Nia – hope you enjoy it if you make it!
Love the Couscous with Mushrooms and Courgettes. I think couscous and courgettes may have been made for each other!
They do work well togehter and I bet you are growing some!
Both look yummy!
Thank you – we enjoyed them both!
Hi T, Love couscous but never seem to make it that ofen. Not sure why. Will give your recipes ago. They look delicous. Perfect for these summer months. TFS.
Regards Florence xx
I used to only eat it hot, but now I make it lot as a salad – so quick and tasty!
I’m very keen on cous cous and for some reason only eat it in winter with tagines. I’m going to try some summer salads such as yours.
I used to only eat it hot too (particularly in France once a week at the local restaurant we all used to use as our “canteen”!) but now I eat it year round!
I think I would love that first one, mushrooms would give that couscous a good earthy flavour it needs. Mmmm
They do seem to work very well with couscous and dried mushrooms in with the mix are great too!
I love cous cous – can eat it every day 🙂
It starts to become addictive!
Both recipes look delcious! I’ve only recently discovered couscous and still experimenting!
There´s so much you can do with it!
I am a couscous fan! But you know me, I don’t make it on my own. I do enjoy your photos of all the wonderful dishes you make. And can you send some nice weather this way please 🙂
Thanks TBM! Am packing up a big box of sunshine as I think you need it after the weekend of rain you´ve had 😦
Thanks! Two new great ideas for something we, like you, eat with grilled foods all through the summer!
So easy and quick with something grilled!
Me encanta el couscous de cualquier manera! Buenas recetas para el veranito. Gracias y un saludo!
Gracias a ti y un saludo!
We had couscous with dinner last week simply because I’d run out of rice. We both commented on how we should eat it more often because its so lovely, and here are two new recipes to tempt us…we have no excuse.
I think we often stick to the same things too (like rice) and then for the same reasons “discover” something we had forgotten about then go a bit mad on it for a while!
I totally agree, couscous is indeed a wonderful blank canvus and the possibilities are endless
I love your recipes, the mushroom one sounds especially tempting
Thanks Sawsan – I can imagine you doing something very creative and tasty with it!
Couscous is a vegetarians quick save “go to” meal. You just add boiling stock or water (or coconut milk) and while you are waiting for it to absorb (lid on 😉 ) you can stir fry, reheat, defrost whatever you like to serve on top or add to it. Its adaptable to any food, any season and can be savoury or sweet. I love it with mushrooms, capsicum (peppers) and onion all cooked with lots of garlic and fresh herbs…delicious! Yours looks scrumptious and has just prompted me to get the hubby to add couscous to our next shopping list 🙂
It´s true, it´s a great go to meal. Have never tried adding coconut milk, that sounds like it would be really tasty and will have to give it go!
Both of you couscous dishes are perfect for summer. I can’t wait until it turns warm…we have the heat on. The high today was 58 F, gray and rainy.
Oh dear, sounds like the UK where my parents too are shivering! Will send you some sunshine 😉
Aaah, Gazpacho… I could live off that in the summer – love you idea of making a couscous with gazpacho… colourful and pretty, I’m sure it tastes wonderful too!
Well, we have all the basic ingredients for a gazpacho permanently to hand, so it made sense to enjoy them in another way!
Couscous salad is wonderful and I love both of these. Light, fluffy and full of flavor from the added ingredients – I could eat this stuff every day.
It is very more-ish!
I’d love some tips with quinoa – have a bag of it and don’t know how to make it or what to do with it.
Wish I could help but I have to confess to never having cooked with it 😦
@ChicaAndaluza: You can treat it exactly the same as couscous, but since quinoa is a health food, it’s used for bread, cakes, muffins, flans, and other things that I’ve never seen couscous used for. They come in red and yellow (yellow quinoa is quinoa with its red coating removed). Yellow tastes like couscous and I’ve never had red but it’s supposed to taste nutty and crunchy.
I´m looking forward to getting hold of some as I hear nothing but good things about it!
I know you posted that a year ago, but if you get any more in the future, I can help you with recipes. Quinoa is one of the healthiest (and tastiest) grains you could possibly eat, so I hope you buy more!
Thank you!
Yes! Me encanta el couscous, and now is the season for the cold and freshly cooked kind. The gazpacho one sounds delicious, I’ll have to give it a try!
Y a nosotros, y es tan fácil a preparar!
It would be interesting to cook couscous using gazpacho as the broth!
It would make a great base, for sure!
I’m getting really confused by your reply links so I’ll just respond here, lol. Another really popular health food in the U.S. is amaranth. It’s a grain that’s kind of sweet and nutty, I’ve heard. I’ve had it before, but there were other ingredients so I wouldn’t be able to describe it. At any rate, amaranth is mainly used in desserts. You can also get amaranth flour, quinoa flour, and macaroni noodles made out of quinoa. They’re just so exciting!
ooo! really like the sounds of them both but think the mushroom courgette version is calling me to dinner! thanks Tanya for the inspiration!
I think it might be calling me too!
I have some Israeli couscous in the pantry and I think you just convinced me to try making it this weekend for our monthly Tapas night. Now to pick which one to make, hmmm, maybe both?
Ooh, that would be good (go for both!) and I love the sound of a monthly Tapas night – what fun!
I think I will. And of course will blog all about it. We have fun at our Tapas night, lots of good food and fun.
perfecto ….