Greenhouse Couscous Salad | Jamie Oliver

In his cookbook Jamie Oliver Together: Memorable Meals Made Easy, there are easy and versatile recipes post-pandemic, I hope. Whether you’re planing a casual dinner or a celebration feast or a picnic, Jamie got the right answer. To celebrate the power that food has to bring people together. To that end, the recipes in the book are relative fast, comforting, fun, surprising and an adventure all at once. Meanwhile, they won’t stress you out too much. You can almost sit back and enjoy the gathering of friends and family — which is the whole point. The greenhouse couscous salad, like most other recipes in the book, can be made ahead and served without a lot of fuss.

The recipe serves a crowd, so feel free to reduce the recipe amount if you want to make it on a weekday. Otherwise, you’d need a big bowl, several sheet pans and a large serving platter. While I’m making the salad, I feel like I’m running a commercial kitchen, which is quite different from everyday cooking for a small family. To do larger scale cooking, the blender, the mandolin and the larger trays are called into action. There are certain excitement about the whole process.

Making couscous usually starts with boiling water, however a different technique is deployed here. Begin by making a tomato mixture in a blender. The ingredients are primarily tomatoes (1.5 pounds), and a handful of fresh basil leaves, 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, water and a pinch of salt. I use the Vitamix blender and skip the part of using a sieve to strain the mixture. Then stir in the couscous, no cooking required. You do need to rehydrate the couscous in the tomato mixture and chill for an hour.

The next step involves roasting the zucchini, garlic, black olives and feta cheese on a baking sheet at 350°F for 30 minutes. For regular zucchini which I have, I cut it into thin slices like ribbons with a mandolin. Grilling takes less time, but required a closer watch than roasting in the oven. It’s your choice; I’ve done both. In the end, it’s about how much active cooking you want to do.

The salad comes together brilliantly. The roasted or grilled zucchini is sweet, balancing nicely with the creamy savory feta and the zing from the chili. The bed of couscous provides a slightly acidic and herbaceous backdrop, a pleasant chew and a fabulous celebratory presentation. It’s a delight to the eye and to the palate.

Memorable Meals Made Easy by Jamie Oliver

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Greenhouse Couscous Salad | Jamie Oliver

By Jamie Oliver – Serves: 10

The is a cold salad tossed with roasted zucchini, crumbled feta, olive and chili over a bed of couscous rehydrated in a tomato mixture. This serves 10, enough for a dinner party, a celebration feast, or a picnic. There is no reason why you can't make it for a weekend meal.

Ingredients

• 700g/ 1 1/2 lb ripe mixed-color tomatoes
• 2 fresh mixed-color chillies
• 1 bunch of basil, 30g/ 1 oz
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 mug of couscous, 300g/ 10 oz
• 500g / 1 lb baby courgettes (I used regular ones)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• a handful of black olives, stone in
• 200g/ 7 oz feta cheese
• extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1

PUREE THE TOMATO: Roughly chop the tomatoes and place in a blender with ½ a chili. Tear in the basil, reserving a handful of nice baby leaves. Add 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of sea salt, then blitz until smooth (work in batches, if needed).

2

MAKE THE COUSCOUS: Pour the mixture through a coarse sieve into a deep enamel tray or bowl. Season to perfection, tasting and tweaking, then stir in the couscous, cover, and leave to rehydrate in the fridge for 1 hour.

3

ROAST THE ZUCCHINI: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Trim the baby courgettes and halve lengthways, placing them in a baking tray as you go. Peel the garlic, slice with the remaining chillies and add to the tray, then squash, destone and tear in the olives. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lightly season and toss together. Rub the feta with a little oil, then place in the centre of the tray and roast for 30 minutes, or until everything is lightly golden.

4

COMBINE WITH THE COUSCOUS: Mix up the couscous, scatter over the courgettes, garlic, chili and olives, crumble over the feta, sprinkle with the reserved basil leaves, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. This will be delicious served warm or cold.

Notes

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/couscous-recipes/greenhouse-couscous-salad/