Carrot, couscous, bean and feta salad - perfect for a picnic and a play

We recently went to see Australian Shakespeare Company's Macbeth at the Botanic Gardens.  The tickets were Christmas presents from my parents.  We enjoyed sitting on a rug with our picnic watching the Scottish play!  I made salad, baked bread and took leftovers.  Today I am going to share the recipe for the Carrot, couscous, bean and feta salad which a strong contender for a regular meal.

I baked a batch of overnight sourdough leek and red cheese bread rolls in the morning.  (Based on these rolls.)  We had made the carrot and couscous salad previously.  The dressing hadn't quite worked but it was definitely worth revisiting.  So I was disappointed when I made the salad in the afternoon and it still didn't taste quite right!  There was a good reason for this.

I had forgotten to add the 2 tins of beans.  We didn't have cannellini beans which weren't available at the shops so we used a tin of borlotti beans and a tin of a 4 bean mix.  I liked the rustic look of the variations.  Adding the beans made a big difference.  They given the salad substance and texture.

I was very pleased to take three salads to the picnic.  We had some leftover rice salad and kale salad to take along with the fresh carrot and couscous salad.  I was less pleased at the seating at Macbeth.  We have been to a few outdoor plays in our time.  It is usually about taking a blanket and a picnic and sitting on the grassy expanse in front of the stage.  

This play had a section of short folding seats set up in numbered rows.  These were premium numbered seats.  Then there was a section for people who brought their own short seats to set up and THEN there were the section for people with blankets just in front of the people who rented the higher seats.  This was just not the democratic fun of outdoor theatre.  It felt unfair to have so little option but to be so far from the stage.

This was Sylvia's first Shakespeare play.  It was harder to enjoy being so far away but there were spectacular scenes for a teenager who decided that a good way to watch was wrapping herself in a blanket listening to music on her phone - through earphones!  The witches were an unworldly sight in their spooky costumes with misty lighting coming from their cauldron.  The sword fights were a bit more basic but fun. 

I studied Macbeth at both school and university so I am quite familiar with the play.  There are so many powerful words in this play.  I felt sorry for the actors that they were heckled by a group of drunken guys passing on the other side of the fence while Lady Macbeth was at the end of her Out Damn Spot soliliquy.   The most compelling moment for me was the pathos of Macbeth giving his Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow soliliquy towards the end of the play.  The idea that life is "a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing" still resounds today when we look at our media and our politicians.

We really enjoyed the carrot and couscous salad.  I made some changes to the recipe I found on the From My Bowl blog.  For a start they use harissa but as we don't have this I tweaked the seasonings but kept the Morroccan flavours.  We also added feta.  We used pearl couscous instead of regular couscous but either would work.  The salad is same same but different to our recent favourite Pearl couscous, cucumber and feta salad.  And as with that salad can be tweaked in many ways to suit all sorts of diets and preferences.  Definitely a keeper!

More recipes with couscous on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

Couscous salad with chermoula (v)
Moroccan chickpea and couscous salad (v)
Mushroom, chestnut and couscous sausages
Pearl couscous, cucumber and feta salad with pesto
Pearl couscous pilaf with eggplant, lentils and pea (gf, v)

Carrot, couscous, bean and feta salad
Adapt from From My Bowl

Salad ingredients:

• 1 cup pearl couscous (or regular couscous)
  
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 1 tsp stock powder
• 4-5 carrots, grated
  
• 2 x 400g (30 ounce) tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
• 3 spring onions, sliced
  
• 200g smooth feta, crumbled
  

For the Dressing:

• good drizzle of olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt flakes
• good amount of pepper
  

Place uncooked couscous in cold water and stock powder in a medium saucepan and cover with a lid.  Bring to the boil.  Cook about 10 min and then turn off the heat, then rest at least 5 minutes with the lid on.  This should make about 2 cups of cooked couscous.  You can do this ahead of time or cook the couscous while we prepare the rest of the salad and add it hot.

Prepare and place remaining salad ingredients in a large salad bowl (with the option of keep back some feta and parsley for garnish).  Mix well.  Add the dressing ingredients and stir in.

When the couscous is cooked, add to the salad bowl and mix well.  If you opted to set aside some feta and parsley, scatter or pile on the top of the salad.  The salad will keep for a day or two in the fridge.

NOTES: This salad can be made with many variations on the grains, beans, seasonings and even the vegetables added.  Mix it up any way you want.

On the stereo:
Begin to Hope: Regina Spektor