Pearl couscous salad with chickpeas and pistachios is a fresh, satisfying salad that works just as well on a weeknight as it does for guests. Pearl couscous – also known as Israeli or giant couscous – has a lovely soft texture with a slight bite, rather like tiny pasta pearls, and it makes the salad both substantial and very good indeed.
The salad is packed with crisp cucumber, chickpeas, red onion, flat-leaf parsley and unsalted pistachios, which add both freshness and a lovely nutty flavour. Everything is tossed in a simple vinaigrette of lemon, honey, Dijon mustard and good olive oil, which brings the ingredients together beautifully and strikes just the right balance between sharpness and sweetness.
It is the kind of salad you want to eat with a spoon. It makes a satisfying main-course salad on its own, but it is also an excellent side for barbecues, pan-fried chicken, salmon or other fish and meat. An easy salad with plenty of flavour, just as suited to everyday cooking as to summer barbecue dinners.
Pearl couscous salad with chickpeas and pistachios
Ingredients
- 150 g pearl couscous
- 1 cucumber
- 1 tin chickpeas, drained
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 handful unsalted pistachios shelled
Vinaigrette
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
- Cook the couscous according to the packet instructions, then rinse it in cold water. Leave it to drain thoroughly in a sieve.
- Halve the cucumber lengthways and cut it into slices. If it is very thick, you can scrape out the seeds and cut it into quarters before slicing.
- Put the couscous, cucumber, chickpeas, red onion, parsley and pistachios in a bowl.
- Mix the ingredients for the vinaigrette, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and pour it over the salad.
- Toss everything together well and, if you like, leave the salad to rest in the fridge for an hour or so.
Nutrition
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