This warm couscous salad with chicken and olives will brighten up your day for sure. The olives creates wonderful balance of flavors with the chicken and couscous and offer you a new-found comfort food!
It’s a long weekend this time with Friday being a holiday and I could not be happier!
Long weekend always seems a lot of fun even if you just become a couch potato and spent the half of the entire 3-day-long holidays in that cozy recliner, you will still feel energized!
My 2 days are gone and I have not achieved much in this instance of long weekend. But I still feel good. Well, one of the reason could be this good comforting couscous salad.
Couscous is not very popular yet in Indian culinary arena but I must say it has a huge potential.
The light and fluffy texture of couscous can be matched well with spicy as well as non-spicy preparation with equal deliciousness.
My one-pot couscous was a spicy meal with chicken and many flavorful spice blend which proved to be an absolute crowd-pleaser.
This time I made a mild couscous salad with chicken and green olives but even if you are a spice-lover like us, this will suit your taste buds too!
Couscous is kinda similar in texture to semolina or sooji as we call it but semolina grains are much coarser than couscous.
It is made of durum wheat and the best part is that it does not require any cooking. You just need to soak the couscous in boiling water and keep it covered for 10 to 15 minutes.
Then fluff them up with a fork. The water should be just enough to keep the couscous inside the water and not more, else you will end up with soggy couscous.
My advice is to start with less water and then check and add more boiling water only if required.
I love to explore the world of food and various ingredients which are popular in different parts of the world.
If you are visiting my blog for a while now, you would have noticed that I do not restrict my cooking expedition to one particular cuisine or culture.
My vision is to explore and discover as many awesome food as possible during this never-ending one-of-its-kind voyage! Couscous is another addition to my list of discovery and it is going to stay in our meal planner.
If you are like me who wants to try and taste as many new things as possible but having trouble finding couscous in your regular grocery store/supermarket in any part of India, then you must buy your couscous from here!
- Couscous – 150 gms
- Boneless and skinless chicken breast – 200 gms
- Egg – 1
- Green olives – 20, pitted
- Garlic – 6 cloves, minced
- Olive oil – 3 tbsp
- Honey – 2 tbsp
- Cumin powder – 2 tsp
- Paprika – ½ tsp
- Red pepper flakes/chilli flakes – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Lemon – 1, cut into wedges
- Put the couscous in a large bowl and pour boiling water over it until all the couscous are covered with water. The amount of water must be just enough to keep all the couscous immersed in water. Cover with a plate and set it aside.
- Cut the chicken breast into long thin strips. Whisk the egg in a shallow dish. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Dip one chicken strip at a time into the beaten egg and place into the hot oil. Fry the chicken strips for 2 minutes each side. Take them out and set aside in a bowl.
- Slice most of the olives keeping 4 or 5 to garnish at the end.
- Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Add the minced garlic for a minute until translucent but not brown. Add in the sliced olives and give a quick stir.
- Add the cumin powder, paprika and salt to taste. Add honey and mix everything well.
- Uncover the bowl of couscous. By now the water should have been all absorbed by the couscous. Fluff up the couscous with a fork and then add them to the olive and spice mixture.
- Add the fried chicken and give a quick toss to combine everything together with the spices. Keep stirring for 2 to 3 minutes until everything warms up.
- Remove the couscous from heat and squeeze in some lemon juice.
- Garnish with the whole olives, sprinkle the red pepper/chilli flakes and serve warm with more lemon wedges if desired.
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