The Best Salad

• December 06, 2021
• 346 words
• 2 min

Years ago, a colleague made this salad for a potluck at work, and was kind enough to gift me the recipe. I'm sharing it here becuase it's become one of my favourites in the years since.

Yield

This batch makes enough for 4+ people as a main meal.

Ingredients

• 2 whole red onions
• 2-3 little preserved lemons (approx. AU 20 cent sized diameter)
• 3 cups pearl / Israeli cous cous
• 1 tsp brown sugar (or any other sugar if you don't have brown)
• Currants (large handful)
• 1-2 whole, fresh pomegranates (seeds only, removing the outer casing)
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil

Method

1. Thinly slice 2 red onions into rings, cut in half to have semi-circles
2. Heat a pan on the stove with olive oil and lemon juice (approx 1/4 cup each)
3. Add sugar & onions to pan
4. While onions are cooking, in a separate pot, cook the cous cous according to directions on the packet
5. Chop up lemons, discarding any seeds. Once onions are soft, add lemons to pan
6. After a minute or two, take off the heat. If the contents are getting dry, add some more lemon juice
7. Add a large handful of currants to the pan
8. Once the cous cous is cooked, drain and rinse, and add it to the onion/lemon mix
9. Mix together and splash with more olive oil
10. Finely chop mint and parsley (I use most of a full bunch from the shops) and add to mix
11. Taste the salad together and season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice if needed
12. Add the pomegranate seeds and stir through, or serve on top for presentation

Enhancements

From time to time, I've been known to add some other ingredients to the salad.

Some things I've added:

• Finely sliced cucumber
• Chicken marinated in salt, pepper, olive oil and cooked in a lemon juice
• Feta or cooked halloumi cheese (you want soft, salty cheese)
• Craisins (dried cranberries) or other small interesting tasting/textured fruit in place of currants of pomegranates