Nutty Couscous Salad

Couscous is basically a Mediterranean dish. In general, I am not too fond of couscous and have never prepared it at home. But, one of my friend taught me this recipe. It was very easy to prepare and I liked this recipe of couscous, as a salad. I found it very nutritious and tasty. This recipe serves as a good side dish with fish, chicken or lamb or also a salad.

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine couscous
• 11/2 cup water
• 1 red bell pepper cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp parsley or coriander finely chopped
• 1 small can of mixed beans
• 2 tbsp of roughly chopped pecans or walnuts
• 2 tbsp dried blueberry
• 2 tbsp dried cranberry
• salt to tast

Method:

• Bring 11/2 cup water to a boil.
• Pour this hot water over the couscous and cover and keep it for about 15 minutes
• Then with the help of fork, gently flake it like the way you would handle cooked rice.
• Drain the water from the canned mixed beans and rinse it nicely under the tap and mix these beans with the couscous.
• Add all the remaining ingredients to the couscous and gently mix it together with a fork.
• Chill it for about 1/2 hour in the refrigerator and serve it as a side or a salad.

Note: You can customize this salad and put in any ingredients of your choice. You can add grilled chicken breast to it if you like or some smoked sausages. Also serves as a great snack idea.

Baked Salmon with an Indian twist

Salmon is considered to be a health food by many because of its omega-3 fatty acids. A lot of health benefits are associated with its consumption. This is one of my favorite fish, here in Canada. However, I don't buy it often because it is too expensive. Whenever, I did buy salmon, I generally prepared it in a Continental style but was very surprised to know that our Indian spices also go very well with this fish. I had this dish at my friend's place and really liked the preparation. So, decided to share it with you all.

Preparation Time : 40 minutes + marination time

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

4 medium sized salmon steaks

3 tbsp of fish fry masala

salt to taste

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp of mixed Italian herbs

2 tbsp of fresh chives finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

• In a bowl, combine fish fry masala, salt, lime juice, Italian herbs and chives together.
• Pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil to form a thick paste
• Apply this paste or marinade on both sides of the salmon steaks.
• Let this rest in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
• Grease a baking tray lightly with olive oil
• Preheat the oven to about 400 degree F and bake the fish for about 15 minutes on either side.
• Serve hot with some nutty couscous salad.

Note: If you don't have fish fry masala, you need to combine 2 tbsp of red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garlic powder together. Combine this with the rest of the ingredients mentioned above and make a marinade for the fish.