I first ate this salad as a 14 year old in France, as I watched the sun streaming in through the windows, the smell of freshly baked baguettes floating in on a beautiful Sunday morning. It was also the first time I ate salad for breakfast. And it was love at first bite.

Couscous is often confused with broken wheat. They are not the same. Couscous is really a pasta that looks like a grain, and is made from semolina. It is much faster to cook when compared to broken wheat. If you don’t have couscous, you could probably substitute it with cooked broken wheat.

The most special ingredient in this dish is the parsley. It adds a wonderful freshness.

Time taken: 10 min
Serves 3-4
Measuring cup used: 200 ml

Ingredients

1 cup couscous
1 cup chopped Greek cucumber
1 cup chopped tomatoes
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook the couscous as per instructions. Usually this involves soaking it in an equal amount of boiling water and letting it sit covered for 10 min.

Make the dressing by mixing the lemon juice and the olive oil and adding salt and pepper.

Mix the couscous with the chopped cucumber, tomatoes and parsley. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Serve cold, topped with pumpkin seeds if you like the crunch.