This meal was originally going to be a spicy prawn salad (minus the couscous), but my husband calls at 5pm and announces that he is bring guests to dinner (just as I am about to start dinner) and they will be here in 30 minutes…so no time to duck down to the shops and get anything extra. Thanks Phillip!
Now I normally don’t think that a dinner is a meal without a carbohydrate – for the fact that my husband works physically throughout the day and I don’t want him to go hungry at night. But in this heat no one has really felt like a carbohydrate, so I haven’t cooked one.
So I thought that the simple solution would be to add a carbohydrate that I had in my pantry and couscous – served cold as a salad – sounded like a winner.
Couscous is simple and requires minimum cooking, so it ticks all the boxes when you want to whip something up quickly on a hot summer’s evening. Simply place 1 mug of couscous in a bowl, cover with 2 mugs of boiling water and then leave to puff up for 5 minutes. Then you are ready to add any flavour you wish to tie it into your meal.
HERBED COUSCOUS WITH FRESH SALSA AND SPICY PRAWN SALAD
500 grams of green banana prawns
1 teaspoon of ceyanne pepper
1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
3 spring onions, chopped
1 lemon
1 avocado
1 red capsicum
1 bag of mixed lettuce
3 medium tomatoes
1 mug of couscous
1/2 bunch of mint
1/2 bunch of parsley
1/2 bunch of basil
4 tablespoons of olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
Place 1 mug of couscous into a bowl, add 2 mugs of boiling water to the bowl and then cover with a lid (I used a plate as my bowl didn’t have a lid) and leave for 5 minutes.
Into a hot frying pan, add a drizzle of oil and the prawns, ceyanne pepper, dried chilli, ginger, spring onions and the zest of the lemon. Toss the prawns until they are lovely and pink and then remove from the pan and allow to rest.
To make the herbed couscous, fluff the couscous with a fork before adding the chopped herbs, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, half the lemon juice and seasoning.
To make the salad, toss the diced avocado, diced capsicum, diced tomatoes and mixed lettuce with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning.
To serve, pile the couscous on a nice wooden board, top with the salad and then finish with the prawns.
