Couscous & Mograbiah with Tomatoes

Summer always causes me to chase that je ne sais quoi “summer feeling”. This easy-breeziness, that you somehow lose at the tender age of 14, and that you only seem to be able to compensate with an indecently expensive vacation to a place that can be summarized with words like: “luxury”, “retreat”, “beach front and “infinity pool”. Since vacations only happen, like, once a year, if at all (it does feel like there has been a very long absence in my life), I’m focusing on summer to do’s for sanity and happiness. Like a little bbq here and a bike ride through the summer night, there. I don’t ask for much, it’s the small things that make me happy.

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This salad is a summer must, that also adds to happiness, in multiple ways. For one, it features the best summer ingredients – fresh tomatoes – and as it’s a salad it can easily be taken to outdoor places for an impromptu Picnic. Plus it makes for a pretty neat leftover lunch at work.[gap height=”20″]

Couscous & Mograbiah with Tomatoes
Inspired by two recipes from Ottolenghi [gap height=”20″]

Ingredients:
1 cup couscous
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup mograbiah, fregola or israeli couscous, from the turkish shop
2 cups colorful cherry tomatoes (yello, red, green), halved
2 large coeur de boeuf tomatoes, in eighth
1 lemon, juice
1 handful basil
1 handful parsley
1 handful coriander
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses
1 tsp. harissa
1 tsp. garlic paste (or 2 cloves, crushed)
maldon sea salt

Directions:
For this salad, two different Ottolenghi favorites have been merged into one. First, cook the couscous and mograbiah separately. Boil the broth, add the couscous and a little olive oil, cover and let sit until soaked up. Fluff with a fork. Cook the mograbiah al dente in salted water, drain and cool in ice water. Combine couscous and mograbiah.Prepare the tomatoes, coarsely chop the hers. Prepare a simple dressing with the olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, garlic paste and harissa. Season with salt. Combine couscous, mograbih, tomatoes, herbs and the dressing. Garnish with grilled lemon slices, if you want (i like the looks of it but i don’t eat them). Enjoy at room temperature (or the next day as a desk lunch, ahem).