Couscous with lentils

What does the term "salad" mean to you? Something with green leaves, tomatoes and cucumber and radishes, perhaps with a dressing? That's what denotes a salad to me - even now, when I know that practically anything can be a "salad".

I have to say it used to puzzle me. What is pasta salad, anyway? Or - a very strange thing to a South Indian - rice salad? Could South Indian lemon rice or tamarind rice be classified as rice salad?

I'm still not entirely sure why something that is not a salad when hot becomes a salad when cold. Examples? Well, pasta. Eat it cold, and it's a pasta salad. Eat it hot, and it's... well, pasta. Rice, too, undergoes that transition - especially if there's wild rice in there. Take couscous, too. Pizza Hut has cold couscous in its salad bar. When is couscous a side dish, and when is it a salad? More to the point, why is it a salad when it's cold? And then those hot salads - how do THOSE come about without becoming not-salad?

I don't mean any disrespect to the West when I say that perhaps everything is a "salad" here because they don't know how else to classify the various cooked foods from other cultures? What do you think?

This recipe could be a salad, or not. It could be a side dish. Or merely a form of couscous upma. Here's a thought - perhaps we Southies call everything "upma" because salads aren't really in our culinary heritage?

Because I don't know what to call my recipe - salad, side dish, upma, whatever - I'm terming it "couscous with lentils". At least it has the virtue of literalness.

Recipe for: Couscous with lentils

Ingredients:

1/4 cup green lentils
1 bay leaf
1 cup couscous
1 red onion, chopped finely
2 green chillies, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
about 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 tsp oil

Method:

1. Cook the lentils in salted water along with the bay leaf, till they're cooked but not mushy.

Drain and reserve.

2. In a medium size pan, heat the oil and add the chopped chillies, garlic and red onion. Stir well.

3. Let the onions soften a little, then add the chopped tomato.

4. Once the tomatoes are beginning to break down, pour in the stock and bring to a brisk boil.

5. Now add the couscous and stir it well. Add salt to taste and bring back to the boil.

6. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a well-fitting lid. Let the couscous rest for 10-15 minutes.
7. Once all the water has been absorbed, fluff up the couscous with a fork. Add the reserved lentils and freshly ground pepper to taste, and toss to mix, or fork it through to mix.

8. Garnish generously with shredded basil leaves and serve the couscous warm as a side with lamb dishes, or as a snack.

RECIPE: COUSCOUS WITH LENTILS

Ingredients:
1/4 cup green lentils
1 bay leaf
1 cup couscous
1 red onion, chopped finely
2 green chillies, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
about 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 tsp oil

Method:
1. Cook the lentils in salted water along with the bay leaf, till they're cooked but not mushy. Drain and reserve.
2. In a medium size pan, heat the oil and add the chopped chillies, garlic and red onion. Stir well.
3. Let the onions soften a little, then add the chopped tomato.
4. Once the tomatoes are beginning to break down, pour in the stock and bring to a brisk boil.
5. Now add the couscous and stir it well. Add salt to taste and bring back to the boil.
6. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a well-fitting lid. Let the couscous rest for 10-15 minutes.
7. Once all the water has been absorbed, fluff up the couscous with a large fork. Add the reserved lentils and freshly ground pepper to taste, and toss to mix, or fork it through to mix.
8. Garnish generously with shredded basil leaves and serve the couscous warm as a side dish with meat dishes, or as a snack.

Red bell pepper couscous

I love couscous. In direct contrast to the rest of the food I eat, I am perfectly happy for couscous to be completely chilli-free. In fact, I've been known (thus far, just to myself, but now all my 3 readers are going to be in on this oddity - uh oh!) to eat plain couscous - cooked, of course - that's been swirled with some olive oil or butter. Yep, I like it THAT much!

When I make couscous, it's usually as a side for Pete and a main meal for me. Mainly because I don't really care for stews or any soupy or gravied anything mucking up my nice fluffy couscous.

This version is mild but flavourful because I used vegetable stock to cook the couscous rather than water. Extra fillip added to the process because the bell peppers I used are home-grown!

Yes, I grew them myself, and the plants are currently in the conservatory, leaves drooping a little in the cold. They are there as a sort of experiment to see if:

1. I can keep them alive over the winter.

2. Will they bear fruit again next summer (oh such woeful ignorance of growing things *sigh*) - assuming, of course, that they survive the winter.

Time will tell. I'll keep y'all updated. Please to pretend interest.

Recipe for: Red pepper couscous



Ingredients:

1.5 cups couscous
Enough hot water (or stock) to cook the couscous as per directions on the pack
2 tsp olive oil
4 small bell peppers (or 1 large)
1medium onion
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions till they soften.



2. Add the chopped bell peppers, stir them in and cook for 3-4 minutes.



3. Now add the chopped coriander and stir it in, along with salt and pepper to taste.



4. Pour in the hot stock/water and bring it back up to a bubbling boil.



5. Add the couscous now,



stirring so that it does not become lumpy.



6. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover the pan tightly. Let the couscous sit covered for 15 minutes. Then fluff it up with a fork, check for seasoning and serve.