← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 250 g medium couscous
• 250 ml boiling water
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 5 tbsp Olive oil
• 3 Tomato, deseeded and diced
• ½ Cucumber, diced
• 1 red or green pepper, diced
• 4 Spring onion, sliced
• 1 bunch Mint, leaves chopped
• 1 bunch Parsley, chopped
• 40 g Raisins (optional)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Put the couscous in a large bowl, stir in a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp of the oil, then pour over the boiling water. Cover and leave for 5 min.
2. Fluff the grains with a fork, then pour over the lemon juice and the rest of the oil and fork through again to break up any lumps.
3. Stir in the tomato, cucumber, pepper, spring onions, herbs and raisins. Season well.
4. Cover and chill for 1 hour so the couscous drinks up the juices. Fork through and taste for lemon and salt before serving.

Tips

• Unlike Lebanese tabbouleh, the French version is mostly grain with herbs; it is a staple of supermarket deli counters and summer picnics.
• Couscous is wheat, so this contains gluten.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

French Cooking Academy La Cuisine de Géraldine BBC Good Food