Delicious couscous side dishes: a selection of the best recipes. How to cook couscous? Couscous dishes

Couscous is a grain that came to our latitudes from distant North Africa. It consists of granules made from wet flour ground with semolina from durum varieties wheat. The first mentions of it date back to the 13th century. Since then, the cereal has gained fans in many countries around the world. Couscous is used to prepare main dishes with meat and vegetables. It is good in combination with fish, in soup and salad. To get acquainted with a rather exotic cuisine, it is worth learning a little, since preparing couscous at first glance is not very simple.

Couscous: benefits of consumption

For several centuries in a row, preparing couscous was the exclusive prerogative of Eastern women. Now the process is mechanized everywhere, but still women of the East, as before, moisten wheat flour, mix it with semolina and methodically grind it into small granules with their own hands. Cereals have recently become increasingly popular, because they bring maximum benefits to the body. The benefits of couscous are as follows:

Potassium contained in cereals strengthens the heart muscle, increases immunity and hemoglobin levels.
70% carbohydrates is a lot, but their glycemic index is average. Blood sugar rises gradually, with sudden jumps. This means that the possibility of developing diabetes by eating couscous is negligible.
The high content of phosphorus, vitamin A, copper, and iron have a beneficial effect on the condition of the body as a whole.
Dishes made from such cereals do not have a burdening effect on the stomach and quickly cause a feeling of slight satiety.
Pairs well with fish and seafood, meat, vegetables, fruits and milk.

Consume couscous correctly and in moderation, then your body will be satisfied useful substances, and you will get maximum pleasure from the spicy and languid Maghreb cuisine.

Harmful couscous: are there any contraindications?

Like all unfamiliar products, couscous is controversial over the possible harm of its consumption. Is couscous harmful to the body? So, cereals are contraindicated:

People diagnosed with diabetes mellitus or sugar levels above normal.
Overweight people. The consumption of such products should be reduced as much as possible.
People with intolerance to this cereal.

In all other cases, you can calmly study and try every couscous recipe and surprise others with your deep knowledge of traditional oriental cuisine.

Salad with couscous “Jingle of coins”

The name “couscous” was given to the cereal by the nomadic Berber tribes living in the Sahara. Translated, it means “the ringing of coins” and symbolizes well-being, prosperity, and prosperity. We invite you to decide to prepare a hearty and low-calorie salad at home. You can see from your own experience why couscous is treated so reverently in Arab countries. You will need:

200 gr. couscous;
200 gr. feta cheese;
200 gr. cherry tomatoes;
1 sweet pepper;
10 pieces. green olives;
a couple of tablespoons of olive oil;
a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice;
a teaspoon of salt;
spices: basil, cumin, mint, cilantro (optional).

At home, the original summer salad is prepared as follows:

Pour couscous into a container. Pour a glass of boiling water, pour over oil, salt, cover with a lid and leave to swell for 20 minutes.
Cut tomatoes and olives in half. Pepper and cheese cubes.
Add chopped vegetables, olives and cheese to the brewed cereal. Also throw in chopped herbs, spices, salt and lemon juice.
Place on a nice plate and garnish with cilantro.

Kukus with vegetables “Khamsin”

In hospitable oriental homes, couscous with vegetables is served as a side dish for meat. But it looks so appetizing and has a harmonious taste that it should be considered as an independent dish. To prepare you need:

a glass of steamed couscous;
glass of water;
a couple of sweet peppers of different colors;
eggplant;
a couple of carrots;
4 cloves of garlic;
bulb;
spoon of olive oil;
salt, pepper;
spices: coriander, dried basil, cumin (optional).

Step-by-step preparation scheme:

There is no need to cook the couscous. Just pour the cereal into the saucepan. Pour boiling water in equal proportions, add salt and season vegetable oil. Cover with a lid and leave for 15 minutes.
Cut all vegetables into cubes.
Pour oil into a frying pan and add onion. After a few minutes, add the rest of the vegetables, add salt, pepper, spices and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring systematically.
As soon as the vegetable gravy is ready, remove from the heat and mix with the infused couscous.

You can decorate the dish with olives, basil, cilantro and fresh tomatoes. For meat eaters, it's easy to modify the dish. Couscous with chicken is prepared according to the same recipe, only with gravy you need to fry the meat.

El Aziz Couscous Soup

A refreshing soup with a rich taste and aroma of oriental spices. Couscous soup will give you a pleasant pleasure at any time of the year. Traditionally it is prepared with meat, but we present an updated recipe for lovers healthy food. If you love meat, then its presence in the soup will not hurt. You will need:

half a glass of couscous;
bulb;
1 carrot;
half a kilo of tomatoes;
3 cloves of garlic;
1.5 l. water + 1l. for blanching vegetables;
a couple of tablespoons of olive oil;
salt (to taste);
spices: black pepper, dried mint, cumin, coriander, etc. (optional);
cilantro for decoration.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

Finely chop the onion, garlic and carrots. Cut the tomatoes into a cross and place in boiling water for a minute. Transfer them from boiling water to cold water. Remove the skin and cut into cubes.
Take a saucepan with a thick bottom. Pour oil into the bottom and place the onion directly there. Simmer over low heat. Add the remaining vegetables, simmer for 5 minutes.
Top up hot water, add salt and spices as much as you like. Wait until it boils, add the cereal and turn off the stove.
Cooking couscous in a ready-made dish will take 10 minutes. It will soften and after that the soup will be ready.

Garnish with herbs and serve. The soup does not lose its taste even when cold.

Tabbouleh with couscous

If you like salads with a lot of lemon juice, then try Tabbouleh with Couscous. Even without a photo, the dish looks appetizing and bright. The high content of greens in the composition has a beneficial effect on digestion. You won't regret making it yourself. Need to:

half a glass of couscous;
4 large bunches of parsley;
3 lemons;
a small bunch of mint;
4 medium tomatoes;
a small bunch of mint;
half an onion;
salt (to taste);
half a glass of good quality olive oil.

An interesting salad is prepared this way:

Pour the juice of one lemon over the couscous in a bowl and leave to swell.
Finely chop the onion, parsley, tomatoes and mint.
Combine everything with the cereal, pour over the oil and juice of the second lemon.
Serve on a platter. Serve the third lemon in wedges with the salad. Maybe someone will add more lemon juice.

This salad has a nice refreshing effect. But people with high acidity should refrain from eating, as lemon acid has a bad effect on their health.

Buy already steamed cereal in the store, since preparing couscous according to the traditional method is problematic. This requires a special steamer, skill and experience. The semi-finished product does not differ in taste from the usual one, but significantly shortens the preparation time for original and healthy oriental dishes. Get rid of cholesterol in your blood in a tasty way and without exhausting diets. Good luck with your culinary experiments.

Video: Couscous with vegetables at home

Another educational material. Just cooking two varieties of couscous and demonstrating how to serve it. This product is very versatile and gives us many interesting possibilities for using it in cooking.

You can get a detailed description of the product itself in the article about couscous in the “Encyclopedia” - “Products” section.

Both types are quite easy to cook. It is important to know that classic couscous is neutral in taste, while ptitim couscous is a bit like pasta and is not directly couscous. It is better to cook couscous separately from other products. If you just want to cook and eat couscous, then the water in which it will be cooked must be salted. After cooking, add oil: butter or vegetable.

How to cook couscous as a side dish

It does not require cooking as such. Couscous is steamed with boiling water. The proportions of product and water are 1:2. For example, for 150 gr. you need to take 300 ml of cereals. boiling water

Pour boiling water over the cereal, be sure to cover the container with a lid and wait 5 minutes. There is no need to stir during cooking. You can either pour boiling water over the couscous from a kettle, or pour the couscous into a pan of boiling water. There will be no difference, I checked.

This is what the finished couscous should look like. It can then be added to other ingredients or eaten as is.

Piti couscous - how to cook

We cook ptitim in the same way as rice. Pour water in a ratio of 1:2, add salt, bring to a boil and cook covered over low heat for 15 minutes.

It is important to maintain a very low fire, since the ptitim can “run away” and flood the entire stove.

Open the lid periodically and stir the ptitim, but not often, only 2-3 times during the entire cooking. This is necessary so that it does not stick together or burn to the bottom of the pan.

Please note that the ptitim is still cooking, but there is practically no water. There are 1-2 minutes left until the end of cooking.

Couscous molds well and holds its shape. This property can be used advantageously when serving dishes using it.

Couscous is a cereal with a good glycemic index and high calorie content. Such cereals can perfectly diversify Russian home cuisine, where you can often find cereals such as rice, buckwheat or wheat products.

Cooking couscous is not that difficult. In general, you can not boil it, but steam it in water, but this is a less preferable cooking option, since it will bring less benefits to the human body.

However, both of these recipes for preparing couscous have the right to life. Let's consider the process of steaming couscous using the example of its mass of 200 grams. This is enough to make a sufficient amount of cooked food.

So, we need: 200 gr. couscous, preferably medium grind, 400 ml. water, salt, spices and seasonings to your taste.

Place the couscous in a heat-resistant bowl and pour in 400 ml of cereal. boiling water Add a little salt and spices to the water with the cereal. Cover the bowl with the cereal for 10-15 minutes and let the cereal soak in the water until it has absorbed 90% of all the water. The porridge is ready, you can serve the dish on the table. To strengthen taste qualities couscous, you can mix the porridge with fried onions and carrots, pour a small amount of unrefined sunflower or olive oil over the dish and serve.

More in a useful way To prepare couscous, you will need to cook the cereal in boiling water. Pour 400 ml into the pan. water and boil it. Place the couscous in boiling water and cook the cereal for 5-10 minutes or until the porridge has absorbed 80% of the water. Then cover the couscous with a lid and let the cereal absorb the remaining water and your dish is ready. Don't forget to add a little salt to the water. The dish can be served with onion and carrot seasonings and poured with unrefined sunflower oil, as described in the first example of preparing porridge.

As far as I know, couscous does not need to be boiled; it is simply enough to brew it with boiling water and season with spices and salt. Since stores now provide us with a huge selection of finished products, they are easy to find on store shelves. So, don't bother yourself and prefer ready-made!

How to cook couscous step by step video recipe

We have also prepared a video for you to fully understand. step by step process preparations.

Perhaps, when you come across fine-grained couscous (or couscous) on sale, you hesitantly turn it in your hands, not knowing what kind of grain it is and how to cook it. It's time to get acquainted with this already quite popular product from African cuisine. At its core, it is a cereal prepared in a special way from ground grains of wheat, barley or rice, which very rich in nutrients. The simplicity and ease of preparing couscous in most cases original recipes makes its use even more attractive.

Kitchenware: a wide saucepan with a lid, a cutlery set of knives, spoons and forks, a wooden spatula, medium bowls and plates for ingredients, a convenient flat dish for serving.

Ingredients

How to choose the right ingredients

To simply and deliciously prepare healthy exotic dishes using couscous ready-made recipes, prefer its variants from durum wheat or from high quality barley and rice.
Its composition is strictly limited to cereals and water.
It is advisable that its packaging be sufficiently airtight, as it quickly absorbs moisture and foreign odors.
Quality product must be packed in thick paper packaging.

Step-by-step preparation

Recipe video

With this video, we invite you to join the wonderful Moroccan cuisine and prepare couscous with vegetables and chicken in an oriental style classic recipe. An unusual combination of ingredients such as vegetables, meat, spices, honey and citrus fruits gives the dish an amazing and unique taste.

For cooking 4 servings required in a slow cooker 20 minutes.
Kitchenware: multicooker, cutting board, silicone or wooden kitchen spatula, large glass, dish or serving plates, vegetable knife, small bowls for ingredients.

Ingredients

Step-by-step preparation

Recipe video

If your multicooker is temporarily stagnant in your kitchen, then this video of preparing a bright oriental dish with vegetables is just for you. In just a few minutes you will prepare a hearty breakfast with a delicate and aromatic taste.

According to nutritionists, for preservation in cereals maximum beneficial mineral and vitamin composition It's best to steam it.
To take advantage of more simple option When cooking fine-grained couscous, just pour boiling water over it in a saucepan, close tightly with a lid and leave for 5-7 minutes. Beat gently with a fork until fluffy and then fill with ingredients.
For the crumbly and hard version, take 1 glass of cereal and 1 glass of water, and for a softer version - 2 glasses of water.
The first option is suitable as an addition to fresh vegetable salads with herbs, and the second - more like a tender and flavorful side dish for all kinds of meats, fish and vegetable dishes.
Its coarse-grained version, ptitim, is cooked as a side dish in a similar way to rice. Pour in water in a ratio of 1 to 2, bring to a boil and cook over very low heat for about 15 minutes.
The right taste is provided by cold-pressed olive oil, which is healthy in composition.
Tightly packaged store-bought product, can be stored at room temperature for no more than a year, and brought from Arab countries - about two months.

Now, having become more familiar with couscous, and already knowing what it is, it is worth discussing in more detail the specific benefits and possible harms of this cereal if consumed frequently. Due to the high content of useful minerals and B vitamins, its regular use reduces cholesterol, the risk of vascular diseases, the development diabetes mellitus and improves the general condition of the body. Helps cope with intestinal and joint problems, strengthens the heart and improves cerebral circulation.

If you periodically diversify your diet with this dish, then It is quite possible to control excess weight. But because high calorie content You shouldn’t overeat a product, as this leads to weight gain extra pounds. Its frequent use with hot spices also does not contribute to health. Diabetics should be very careful when including it in their diet, and people with gluten intolerance should not use it at all.

How to serve a dish and with what

It is very popular when served in combination with fresh, fried or grilled vegetables, which fill it with a juicy and rich taste. It is perfect as a side dish for green peas, asparagus, eggplant, sweet peppers and zucchini. Fans of vegetarian dishes will be pleased with the recipe, which, together with couscous, has a lot of useful properties and subtle delicate taste. Thyme, mint, basil, marjoram and thyme perfectly complement the cereal with an unforgettable aroma, and dried fruits and nuts fill it with a special taste.

Just like, it is ideal for any types of meat and fish. Following national characteristics, they place it on an ordinary clay dish, garnished with fresh herbs, almonds or cinnamon, depending on the filling.

For beautiful portion serving, couscous can be given an original stable shape, serving it both hot and cold with or without various seasonings.

Other possible options

Couscous is simple created for various culinary experiments, since it cooks very quickly, it goes well with any food, easily absorbing their taste and aroma. Tender and aromatic, it can replace rice, pasta and other cereals as a side dish.

In addition to the most common options with chicken, vegetables, and fish, there are also a lot of exotic recipes from this product, gradually immersing us in the atmosphere of Arab cuisine. There it is traditionally eaten with lamb, camel or lamb meat. They fill salads, puddings, put them in soups, and use them as a filling for pies and stuffing. It is very popular as a sweet delicacy, prepared from fresh and dried fruits with honey, sprinkled with grated nuts, sugar and cinnamon.

Even if you were little familiar with couscous before or have only come across this dish in a cafe, then with the help of our recipes, be sure to cook it. The curious combination of ingredients used in this exotic dish will amaze you with an unexpected bright taste and will serve as an impetus for bold culinary experiments. Therefore, as always, we are waiting for your feedback after cooking according to this recipe, as well as new offerings featuring your own twists on this Mediterranean delicacy.

A very tasty and healthy (albeit exotic) side dish is couscous. There are a variety of recipes for preparing the dish, including those with the addition of numerous oriental spices and vegetables. Couscous can be part of salads and even desserts. Every housewife should definitely try to prepare such a treat.

Many readers are interested in the question about couscous - what kind of grain is it? Recently, it has gradually begun to gain popularity among Russian housewives. Couscous is both the name of a certain grain and a side dish that is prepared from it. Since ancient times, women have been involved in the production of such products. They rolled miniature balls from semolina particles, which were first sprinkled with warm oil or salted water. It was only in the mid-20th century that couscous production began on an industrial scale. Today it is prepared, including from barley, rice, and durum wheat.

Most often, couscous is chosen as a side dish. According to the method of its preparation, it is similar to rice. And among the main advantages of this product, culinary experts note its excellent compatibility with any meat, fish, mushrooms, cheeses, spices, dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables. Plus, the couscous soaks up the sauce quickly.

It should be noted that the product contains many vitamins and beneficial elements. Therefore, every gourmet should prepare such a side dish at least once. It will probably stay in the cookbook for a long time.

How to cook couscous correctly - a quick side dish recipe

As a side dish without any additional ingredients, couscous is very quick and easy to prepare. To do this you need to take: 120 g of cereal and 2 times more water, 1 pc. onions and carrots, a pinch of salt and curry, 60 ml soy sauce.

The cereal is poured into a pan, salted and seasoned with curry. After thorough mixing, pour boiling water over it and leave to swell under the lid for 15-17 minutes.
While the couscous is soaking, you should do the vegetables - finely chop the white onion and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Both products are fried in oil until soft.
After adding soy sauce to the pan, the ingredients are simmered for another 7-10 minutes.
All that remains is to add the swollen couscous to the vegetables and stir the dish.

To present a treat beautifully to the table, you should first compact it into a round bowl, and then carefully tip it onto a flat plate. The resulting mound is decorated with finely chopped fresh herbs on top.

With vegetables and chicken fillet

The cereal in question goes well with poultry and vegetables. It is best to take chicken fillet (350 grams) for such a dish. And also: 230 g of cereal, 2 large tomatoes, 2 onions and carrots each, a small bunch of fresh parsley, a pinch of ground cinnamon and salt, 450 ml of clean water.

Couscous is poured with boiling water and infused for 5-7 minutes. There is no need to cook it.
Vegetables are washed, peeled and cut in convenient ways.
In any refined oil, the onion is first fried until transparent, after which carrots and tomatoes are added to it. Together, the ingredients are cooked over maximum heat for 2-3 minutes with constant stirring. By this time, the tomato slices should have lost their shape.
The vegetables are transferred to a separate bowl, and small pieces are fried in the remaining oil chicken fillet. Salt is added to the meat.
Return the vegetables to the pan, add water, add cinnamon and salt to taste. Cook the ingredients together for a couple of minutes.
All that remains is to pour the couscous into the container, turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid, and leave it on the stove until the liquid is completely absorbed into the cereal.

Finely chopped parsley is added to ready dish just before serving.

How to cook in Moroccan style?

This dish option involves using large quantity vegetables and oriental spices. Among them: 2 pcs. radishes, turnips, tomatoes and onions, 4 pcs. carrots and small zucchini, half a kilo of pumpkin, a bunch of coriander sprigs, a pinch of ground ginger, turmeric, black pepper, salt. You will also need to take 750 g of any meat and cereal, 130 g of soaked chickpeas, oil, water.

Large pieces of meat, coriander, salt, all the spices and onions cut into rings go into the pan. A small amount of water is added to the products and they are simmered for 12-15 minutes.
The tomatoes are scalded with boiling water and the skins are removed.
The couscous is poured into a wide plate, poured over with vegetable oil and ground with this liquid ingredient.
Add 1 tbsp to half a liter of warm water. coarse salt. The latter should dissolve well in the liquid.
The scattered cereal should be gradually poured with salt water, and the couscous should be ground (as in the case of butter). It should be completely saturated with liquid.
Steamed chickpeas go into a pan with meat. More water is added to the products.
The grains, soaked in salt water, are steamed. Then it is scattered again on the table, gets rid of lumps and sprinkled with warm liquid. The procedure is repeated three times. After each steaming, the volume of the cereal will increase.
All vegetables, chopped and peeled into large pieces, go into the pan with the meat and chickpeas. Salt is added to the container to taste, and a new portion of water is also poured. Cook the ingredients together until the vegetables are cooked.
Couscous steamed three times is poured onto a wide plate. Its entire surface should be poured with sauce from the pan. After this, meat is placed in the middle of the dish directly on the grain, and pieces of vegetables are placed around the edges.

Such a treat will be full lunch or dinner.

Salad with couscous

The cereal under discussion also goes well with fresh vegetables in salads. For example, with cucumbers (3 pcs.) and sweet red pepper (1 pc.). In addition to vegetables, you need to take: 2 sprigs of fresh basil and the same amount of cilantro, 80 g of couscous, 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, olive oil.

Sweet pepper and fresh cucumbers cut into small cubes. The first vegetable can also be taken pickled.
The greens are finely chopped with a sharp knife.
Couscous is poured with boiling water for 15 minutes, after which a couple of teaspoons of oil are added to it.
All products are laid out in a deep bowl, salted, and poured with a mixture of lemon juice and vinegar. At the very end, a small amount of olive oil is added to them.

The treat is served chilled.

In Spanish

Traditionally prepared dish Spanish recipe, always includes olives. And instead of water, it is best to take beef broth (450 ml). You will also need to use: 1 bell pepper, 1 tbsp. cereals, 470 g of minced beef, half a white onion, 2 garlic cloves, half a glass of olives, a pinch of salt, ground cumin and dry thyme leaves.

A glass of water is brought to a boil, after which the fire is immediately turned off and the couscous is sent into the pan.
The minced meat is fried in oil until half cooked. During the process, you need to cut it into small pieces with a spoon.
Chopped onions, garlic, salt and all seasonings are added to the frying pan with the meat. The ingredients are fried together for a couple of minutes.
Beef broth is poured into a container with meat and vegetables, and thinly sliced olives are added. After about 5 minutes, add more cubes bell pepper. You need to simmer the mass until the amount of broth in the pan is reduced by approximately 2 times.
The soaked couscous is transferred to a deep bowl and slightly loosened with a fork. It is topped with a mixture of ingredients from the frying pan.

Before serving, the dish should sit for 10 minutes so that the cereal has time to soak well in the hot sauce.

Couscous with pork - step-by-step recipe

If the cook is not concerned about the calorie content of the dish, then he can prepare a hearty treat of couscous with pork and tomato juice. To do this you will need to use: 350 g of meat (pulp), 2 small onions, 1 tbsp. cereals and the same amount of water, 350 ml of tomato juice, oil, salt, spices.

The onion is cut into small cubes and fried in oil until soft.
Thin strips of pork are sent to the vegetable. Together, the products are cooked until an appetizing crust appears on the meat.
Tomato juice is poured into the container, the mixture is salted and peppered, covered with a lid and brought to a boil.
Then you can reduce the heat and simmer the future gravy over low heat for 25 minutes.
A pinch of salt is added to the couscous, after which the product is poured with boiling water and covered with a lid.
After 5 minutes, the cereal is loosened with a fork and poured into the pan with the cooked meat.
After stirring, the dish can be removed from the heat.

The treat is served with fresh or pickled vegetables.

Garnish with baked tomatoes

It is best to use cherry tomatoes for this dish. In addition to miniature tomatoes (2 tbsp.), you will need to use: 2/3 cup of cereal, 60 g of fried pine nuts, lemon zest and juice, 60 ml olive oil, a small bunch of fresh mint, salt, pepper. The following describes in detail how to prepare such couscous with vegetables.

The tomatoes are folded in one layer in any heat-resistant form, poured with a tablespoon of olive oil and sent to a well-heated oven until softened.
The cereal is poured with boiling water and left for 8 minutes.
Tomatoes (along with the juice formed during baking) are placed in a container with swollen couscous. Nuts, the remaining oil, finely chopped mint, lemon zest and juice, salt, and any selected seasonings are also added there.

After mixing, the dish is immediately served to the table.

Delicious and simple recipe for a slow cooker

It's very easy to cook couscous in a slow cooker. The device must have a “Soup” mode. In addition to cereal (1 multi-glass), you need to take: 2 times more water, 1 pc. onions and carrots, 70 g butter, a pinch of salt.

After chopping, onions and carrots are cooked in the “Frying” mode for butter until soft.
Salt is poured into the container, water is poured in and the “Soup” program is turned on.
Immediately after the liquid boils, you can add couscous to the bowl, switch the device to the “Warming” mode for 17 minutes and close the lid.
After the specified time, the treat will be completely ready.