Couscous with Halloumi and Mushrooms

This is so embarrassing. I actually posted this yesterday, but managed to post it to my Swedish blog, where I just keep translations of the recipes. Anyway, better late than never!

I promise, I'll post some more baking recipes this week.. it's been a lot of salads and sauces lately - but well, it's summer. The weather here went from icy cold to steaming hot in just a few days, and we're busy trying to figure out how to keep cool.

Anyway, this is excellent as a side dish for barbecued dishes – a simple piece of grilled meat or fish. We had it with grilled lamb sausages, and with a variety of sauces (yogurt-chili, classic barbecue sauce and guacamole) and it made a great meal. It’s very easy and fast to prepare, and all the frying can be done in advance as it’s not served hot.

Couscous with Halloumi and Mushrooms
Serves 6

400 ml couscous
500 ml boiling water
500 g button mushrooms
1-2 bellpeppers, yellow or red
4 spring onions
1 halloumi cheese, about 250 g
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil

Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on size. Cut the bellpeppers into bite-sized pieces. Slice the spring onions, and dice the halloumi. Crush the garlic, or slice it thinly.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Fry the garlic for a minute, then add the spring onions and bellpeppers. Fry on medium heat until it’s softened a bit, but not so much that it colors. Remove to a bowl.

Heat more oil, and fry the mushrooms until golden brown. Remove to the same bowl.

Finally, heat more oil and fry the halloumi until it has some color. Remove from heat, and start with the couscous. Put the grains in a bowl, and pour over the boiling water. Cover with plastic foil, and leave to swell for about five minutes.

When ready to eat, just combine all ingredients in a large bowl or on a large plate. Season with salt and pepper if you like, or just use your favorite sauce as a dressing.

Couscous med paprika, svamp och halloumi