Meg's Cous Cous Salad Recipe

When I was back in Adelaide in May, I headed 400km out of town to visit my dear friend Meg who is living, working and attending university in Whyalla.  It was fab to see her, and we had a few fun meals - amazing salt and pepper squid at a little cafe down by the wild sea, and yummy chicken and chips from the drive-through (yes, I said drive-through - it's the future!) chicken shop which goes by the name of "Bottle & Bird".

Bottle & Bird - drive-through chicken, chips and alcohol service!

One night Meg did a BBQ for some friends and made this amazing and incredibly easy salad that she'd modified from a recipe in an old Donna Hay magazine.

It's dead easy, really yummy, and you can make as much or as little as you like just by making more cous cous.  One simple thing to remember is that the amount of cous cous and the amount of water have to be the same - that's it.  I find that one cup of cous cous is enough for two people.

Cous Cous Salad for Two

• 1 cup cous cous
• 1 cup boiling water
• Handful fresh chopped basil
• Handful fresh chopped parsley
• Handful fresh chopped mint
• Red wine vinegar (I don't have any and I use balsamico)
• Olive Oil (a good one)
• 1 lemon

1. Boil the kettle, put one cup cous cous and one cup of boiling water in a bowl, stir it with a fork and cover it (I use a dinner plate to cover).
2. Zest your lemon and chop it in half
3. Chop your herbs
4. After about 3 minutes uncover the cous cous and fluff it a bit with a fork, then add the zest and squeeze the lemon in, give it another stir, cover it again.
5. After another 5 minutes or so, uncover it and drizzle in some vinegar and olive oil, fluff with a fork again, then add the chopped herbs and give it a stir with the fork.
6. You're done.

So, basically, you can have this ready in the time it takes to cook your steak.    Give it a try - it's fab.