Festive couscous

Curl Up its favourite party dish is couscous with dried fruits and nuts. A great side dish for a wide range of main courses, such as quiche, wine & cheese, but also to accompany for example grilled meat. The advantage is that you can quickly make a big quantity of it with a minimum of effort. This is how we like our couscous, but of course you are free to experiment:

Ingredients

150g normal couscous

75g unsalted pistachio nuts

1 small red onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

25g flat-leaf parsley, chopped

15g mint, chopped

juice of 1 lemon

a handful ready-to-eat prunes, apricots, raisins, figs (chopped in small pieces)

4 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh seeds of a pomegranate

Preparation

Prepare the couscous according to the preparation details on the packaging, or follow these instructions: measure the amount of couscous and pour the couscous in a glass dish. Add some butter over the couscous and then measure the same amount of water as the amount of couscous you measured earlier. Add some chicken/vegetable stock to the water, heat the water in the microwave till boiling. Pour the boiling water over the couscous. Set aside to cool.

Mix all the other ingredients: the nuts, onion, garlic, parsley, mint, lemon juice, and dried fruits in a large bowl. Add the oil and the cooled couscous. You can add as much dried fruits as you wish, making your couscous even richer. Finish by decorating the couscous with some pieces of pomegranate.