Sometimes if we’re ambivalent about a certain food, it might just be because we haven’t found an ideal preparation. I rediscovered this recently when making this couscous salad with smoked fish.
I grew up eating pasta and rice, but as an adult I’ve come to embrace a wider variety of starches and grains. Couscous — often labeled “Moroccan couscous” — is a favorite because it is inexpensive and so easy to prepare. You really cannot mess up this kind of couscous, which is usually a semolina grain product (not to be confused with pearl or Israeli) because it quickly steams in boiling water.
Too often, however, it left me just a little let down in the flavor department.
Now, after adding just one more simple step — toasting — I’m finding so many ways to make it part of weeknight eating. Toasting grains, nuts, seeds, spices or breadcrumbs is a simply wonderful step that adds deeper flavor with very little effort.
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To toast couscous, you put a little oil in a hot skillet, add the couscous and stir and toss it until it turns a light tan. This step, which takes about 5 minutes, gives the mild-mannered couscous a nutty flavor and — as a bonus — fills the kitchen with fragrance, too.
Then, you add boiling water, cover it and let it steam, as usual. While it is steaming, you can make a dressing; then you fluff the still-warm couscous and toss it with that dressing, allowing that small amount of liquid to flavor the tiny pieces without drowning them.
After that, you can take the couscous in many directions. I like the path I found in “The Complete Salad Cookbook” (America’s Test Kitchen, 2021). Here, toasted couscous gets tossed in a wonderfully tart and just a tiny bit spicy mixture of extra-virgin olive oil, pepperoncini brine and minced garlic. Then, you add halved cherry tomatoes, sliced pepperoncini and chopped parsley.
To finish the salad, top it with your favorite smoked fish. I love using easy-to-find canned smoked trout in oil, but use your favorite smoked fish, such as trout, mackerel (be sure to check for small pin bones, if you do!) or salmon. If you don’t care for smoked fish, used canned tuna or salmon, or just eat it as is.
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Don’t stop there. Toast the couscous and make up your own salad combinations using your favorite vegetables, and top that with poached shrimp or fried tofu.
Try steaming the couscous with a flavorful chicken stock, rather than water, and then add chopped parsley and grated garlic and ginger for a zingy starch that goes great with baked or roasted poultry. Add a little star anise to the boiling water before you steam the couscous, and toss in fresh mint leaves. Or make a nutty side by adding crushed pistachios, sliced scallions, lime juice and crushed red pepper flakes. Serve either of those combinations with a broiled fish fillet.
You may find, as I did, that as the scent of toasting couscous hits your nose, you’ll feel a little burst of culinary creativity. And after all of this stay-at-home cooking, it was the little spark I needed.
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Storage: Store leftover trout and couscous separately in airtight containers for up to 3 days.
NOTES: You may use fish packed in oil or water. You may remove the skin or not. Some smoked trout and mackerel may come with pin bones, so check before flaking it into pieces.
Do not substitute pearl, or Israeli, couscous, because it requires a different cooking method.
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