Here's some little known facts about couscous. But no, really. couscous looks like a grain, but it's a pasta. Couscous is made out of semolina flour, which is what regular store bought white pasta is made of. The tiny granules are made out of rubbing semolina flour together with wet hands and drying the results.
Israeli couscous is tiny round pasta balls, about the size of a pin head, and with a nice al dente toothiness when cooked right that is so good. It's also toasted after it's dried, and a good toasting never hurt any food. It's also a newer food.
It's one of my favorite ways to use cucumbers and grape tomatoes in the summer. It's not summer yet even though it feels so springlike, but I had a bunch of extra cucumbers and lemons from another blog post, so I grabbed some alright grape tomatoes and enjoyed an early taste of summer with my favorite Israeli couscous recipe.
Israeli Couscous Tabbouleh
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked Israeli couscous
- 1 medium cucumber seeded (peel if desired)
- 1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- mix of fresh or dried mint, oregano, parsley, cilantro equaling all together 2-3 tablespoons fresh, 1 tablespoon dry, to taste
- 2 scallions chopped green parts only
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. While it’s starting, dice the cucumbers and half or quarter the tomatoes.
- Salt the boiling water and add couscous. Bring heat to a simmer and cook for six minutes.
- Measure out or chop the herbs, removing and discarding the stems if using fresh.
- Whisk or shake (I like to put mine in a small tightly sealing tupperware container to shake for emulsification) the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper together.
- Once the couscous is done, drain and pour the emulsified lemon-oil mixture over it.
- Add in the tomatoes, herbs, scallions, and cucumbers, stir together with a large spoon.
- Serve warm or cold.
