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Couscous Salad With Dried Apricots and Preserved Lemon

5.0(571)

While summer is still with us, you can serve any vegetable-laden dishes you’ve been enjoying all season alongside your meat. Or for something different, I offer a couscous and dried apricot salad dressed with preserved lemon and plenty of herbs. If you can’t find any preserved lemons, and can spare a few weeks, here’s a recipe to make them yourself.

by Melissa Clark

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Easy, Quick

Servings

12 servings

Total time

15 min

Calories / serving

295 kcal

Ingredients (13)

serves

3 cups Israeli (pearl) couscous, whole-wheat or regular
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seedscumin
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or white wine vinegarvinegar
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepperpepper
3/4 cup chopped dried apricotsapricot
3/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves
2/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh dilldill
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste
1/2 cup chopped scallion, white and light-green partsscallion
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped preserved lemonpreserved-lemon
Fresh lemon juice, to tastelemon-juice
Chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish (optional)pistachio

Instructions (2 steps)

01Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add couscous and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain.
02Meanwhile, in a small dry skillet, toast cumin seeds until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Lightly crush them using a mortar and a pestle (or use the flat side of a heavy knife and a cutting board). Add to a bowl with the warm couscous, vinegar, salt and pepper and toss well. When the couscous is cool, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice or oil if needed. Garnish with pistachio nuts if desired.

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Rich recipe — supports nutrition-aware planning.