Author Notes
One of our staple dishes at the restaurant is Couscous, Bulgur or Quinoa Salad with roasted vegetables. One day, Sara, a usual customer, came in the restaurant saying she was on a gluten free diet so she couldn’t eat couscous and could I make her a salad of some kind. I had 8 minutes to come up with a salad for her and I looked through my pantry and found a tin of pre-cooked lentils and a can of artichoke hearts. That was the basis of my salad. As I always have roasted vegetables, I just added whatever I had. She loved the salad, asked me to re-do it again, and since then it has become one of the restaurant's favourite vegetarian dishes, to which I add either Couscous, Bulgur or Quinoa. —Maria Teresa Jorge
Ingredients
- Salad
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1 cup
pre-cooked green lentils
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1 cup
couscous
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3 tablespoons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Salt
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1 1/2 cups
mixed roasted vegetables (aubergines, squash, courgettes, parsnips, carrots, sweet potato)
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2
artichoke hearts, either whole or quartered, if canned better in water
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1/2
red onion thinly sliced with a mandolin
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2
very fresh mozzarella (if you fin Burratta, it’s worth the purchase)
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1/4 cup
fresh pomegranate seeds
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1 tablespoon
fresh coriander roughly chopped
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2 tablespoons
roasted hazelnuts
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1 tablespoon
roasted sunflower seeds
- Vinaigrette Sauce
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1/4 cup
Red Wine Vinegar
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3/4 cup
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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1 teaspoon
Dijon Mustard
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Salt
Directions
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Vinaigrette Sauce
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Dissolve the salt and mustard in the vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil to create an emulsion.
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Cut the red onion in a mandolin and pour the vinaigrette sauce over it and set aside.
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Warm Salad
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Tear the mozzarella with your hands so it has irregular shape and put it in a colander to drain excess water.
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Bring 2 cups of water to the boil.
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Put the couscous in a aluminium or pyrex tray, add salt and 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and mix with your hands until all the grains are well coated with olive oil.
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Add 2 cups of water, mix well to cover all the grains with water, cover with aluminium foil and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir with a fork to loosen up all the grains and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle with your hands, mix with your hands to loosen all the grains very well.
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Remove the onion from the dressing and add to the couscous.
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Warm the lentils and all the roasted vegetables.
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Quarter the artichoke hearts and set aside.
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Toss the vegetables and lentils in the couscous and mix all together. Add ¼ cup of the vinaigrette and stir.
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Put the mixture in a big bowl or big serving plate, divide the mozzarella and quartered artichoke hearts on top, sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, the hazelnuts and sunflower seeds and sprinkle with the coriander.
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Serve the remaining vinaigrette on the side.
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Note: you can substitute the couscous by bulgur or quinoa, works very well with both cereals.
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