Couscous Salad with Tahini Yoghurt Dressing

~ Level: easy ~ Time: 20 mins ~ Budget: cheap.

This couscous salad is very light but super tasty, especially with the finger-licking yoghurt dressing on top of it. You can put all your favourite vegetables in it; the saltiness of the halloumi will complement the veggie salad with an extra burst of flavour.

Couscous Salad with Tahini Yoghurt Dressing

Ingredients ~ 4 servings

• 300g couscous

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• ½ cucumber

• 1 avocado

• 100g cherry tomatoes

• ½ red bell pepper

• 100g halloumi

• 150g tahini

• 150g plain yoghurt

• salt and pepper

• olive oil

Method

1. In a sauce pan, bring 200ml water to a boil and dissolve the vegetable stock cube in it. Add the couscous, turn off the heat and cover the sauce pan with a lid. When all the water is absorbed, transfer the couscous to a big bowl and stir it to fluff it up.

2. Fry the halloumi in a frying pan with olive oil. In the mean time, dice the cucumber, avocado and red pepper and half the cherry tomatoes. Add the veggies and the fried halloumi to the bowl of couscous and mix everything together.

3. To prepare the dressing, stir the yoghurt together with the tahini, salt, pepper and olive oil. Divide the couscous salad over plates and drizzle the dressing on top.

Wine pairing

I find that Cabernet Franc or Carménère is a very nice pairing with this salad. Both of these grape varieties have a pallet of green bell pepper notes, which enhances the fresh taste of the raw veggies and complements the fat, creamy dressing.