Minted couscous

Minted couscous

I came up with this dish as an accompaniment to my Moroccan carrot salad, but it’s great by itself, with a little feta crumbled through it, and/or with some grilled chicken or fish. I think preserved lemons add a whole dimension of flavour to a dish, so these are not optional. I have three beautiful different types of fresh mint growing on my windowsill and I wanted to use them all. I also have an additional two different types of mint in my pantry. So without overdoing it, I have a range of different mint flavours in this dish, which also has crunch from the nuts. Feel free to use as many, or few different types of mint that you have. This is a great side dish for summer. You can take it to a picnic, a BBQ, or eat it at home as the sun goes down. It’s really great.

Serves 4-6 as a side

1	cup	couscous
1	cup	vegetable stock
1/8	teaspoon	dried round leaf mint*
1/4	teaspoon	dried spearmint
1	pinch	salt
1	tablespoon	olive oil
1/4		preserved lemon
2	tablespoons	various fresh mint leaves, chopped (I used chocolate, apple and   common mint)
1	tablespoon	toasted slivered almonds

*This is a native Australian mint, I bought mine online at Gewurzhaus. Feel free to substitute it with any other mint you have.

Cook the couscous in vegetable stock and dried mints according to packet directions (if your packet says you will need more liquid, use more vegetable stock, or water). Fluff the couscous with a fork. Rinse the preserved lemon under running water and then finely dice it, adding to the couscous with the olive oil. When the couscous is cool, add the mint and slivered almonds. Allow the flavours to infuse at room temperature before serving.