Beetroot, Feta, Almond and Couscous Salad

 

I have had this salad recipe in my to make file for a couple of years now.It's one that I collected from those booklets that Waitrose used to put out seasonally.  I have a whole bunch of those and I am slowly cooking  my way through them.

 

I thought this salad looked really interesting . . . with a wonderful variety of textures, flavours and colours . . .

 

You get the salty creamy tang of the Feta cheese, along with the crunch of savoury toasted almonds . . . a sweet hot bite from the sweetfire pickled beetroot . . . not obnoxiously hot, but it's there . . . and then there is that lovely green from the coriander, the nuttiness of the couscous . . . and then that spicy, orangy dressing . . .



Altogether, they make for one pretty fabulous salad.

 

I served it with Nigel's Roast Chicken.



It was good . . .very, VERY good.

 

*Beetroot, Feta, Almond and Couscous Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A deliciously different salad, with lots of lovely flavours and textures, and plenty of colour.

the grated zest and juice of 1 orange (scrub the orange really well first)
200ml of boiling water (scant cup)
50g of toasted flaked almonds (scant 1/3 cup)
200g of Greek Feta Cheese, crumbled (7 1/2 ounces)
1/2 of a 180g pack of Sweetfire pickled beetroot, diced (about 5 or 6 small beetroots)
20g pack of mint or fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped roughly (1/4 cup)
150g of couscous (scant cup)
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt and black pepper to taste

Put the couscous into a bowl.  Pour over 200ml of boiling water.  Cover and let stand for 10 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.

Whisk together the oil, orange juice, zest and cinnamon while you are waiting. 

Fluff up the couscous with a fork and pour over the dressing.  Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.  (Be judicious with the salt as the Feta cheese is salty.)

Fold in the cheese, beetroot and mint or coriander.  Serve.

Note, if you cannot get the hot and sweet pickled beetroot, use normal sweet pickled beetroot, drained and add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper to the dressing.

Speaking of salads, have you checked out my newest cookbooklet yet?  Great British Picnics.  It's up in my right hand side bar . . .   At the risk of  tooting  my horn a  tiny bit . . . you really don't miss out on something which is also very good.  It will be taken off in a few weeks time, so you will want to grab one now while you can!