Couscous Salad with Apricots and Lavender

This Couscous Salad with Apricots and Lavender (and pine nuts) is a tasty dish with both sweet and savoury notes. Also lavender adds a subtle botanical hint, but you will probably not be able to detect the exact herb. So if you are still skeptical about using lavender in savoury recipes, then you should try this salad.

Hey folks – I hope this week has been treating you well so far! After all, it is ALMOST midweek and, hence, it is ALMOST the weekend :) (And for us, it is going to be also an extended weekend thanks to Labour Day – yay!)

This season I have been sharing a lot of lavender recipes. last time I made a little break to post this Blackberry Mojito, but I am now ready for another lavender adventure. And what about you?

lavender Pairings

I have mentioned on a few occasions the book “Cooking with Lavender” by Nancy Baggett. Besides some interesting ways to use lavender, there is a useful chapter on lavender pairings. While many ingredients from that list were not surprising to me, some combinations turned to be new. For instance, I never would have thought of pairing lavender with cheeses, watermelons, pasta, corn, tomatoes, legumes, couscous, and many more.

Well, since I discovered that chapter, I have tried some of them. Confirmed – tasty!

Unusual Use of Lavender Recipes

Sun-Dried Tomato Lavender Spread

Corn Lavender Chowder

Lavender Roasted Potatoes

Watermelon Lavender Salad

Lavender Barbeque Sauce Meatballs

Pasta Salad with Creamy Lavender Sauce

Couscous Salad with Apricots and Lavender

That said, lavenders goes well together with both couscous and apricots. Nuts also pair well with it. And that is how this tasty salad was born!

Please do not worry – lavender has a pleasant herbal-botanical aroma that nicely blends with other herbs. In fact, lavender leaves are often a part of Herbs de Provence blend if you are from North America. Fun fact though – lavender is not included in the original blend, so if you want to be authentic when making a blend yourself, please do not add lavender. But my point being that lavender also goes well together with herbs and you should not be afraid that you dish will taste like a soap. Well, unless you add too much of it or use non-culinary type of lavender (which are safe to eat yet they are way more potent with a pungent, bitter taste.)

I hope you like this Blackberry Mojito, and you will give it a try soon. If you try it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share you photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

Couscous Salad with Apricots and Lavender

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: Salads, Main, Sides

Servings

2-6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Couscous Salad with Apricots and Lavender (and pine nuts) is a tasty dish with both sweet and savoury notes and a subtle floral hint. Two servings as a main course or four-six as a side dish.

Ingredients

• Couscous:

• 3/4 cup (135 gr.) fine couscous

• 3/4 cup (180 ml.) boiling water

• 1/2 tsp. dried culinary lavender buds, minced

• 1 tsp. fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• a pinch of pepper

• Salad:

• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

• 5-7 large large apricots, preferably Turkish *see note

• 1 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

• a handful of arugula (optional)

Directions

• Place the couscous along with the lavender, thyme, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the boiling water and olive oil. Stir once with a spoon, cover with a lid, and let stand for about 5 minutes, then fluff the grains with a fork. 
• For the salad, combined the cooked and still warm couscous with the pine nuts, apricots, olive oil, and lemon juice. The salad is rather on a drier side, so you may want to increase the amount of dressing. Also good options for dressing would be orange juice or even a little bit (start with 1/2 tsp.) of apple cider vinegar or other delicate kinds of vinegars like rosé one. Try and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• You can serve this salad warm, room temperature, or chilled. Stir in the arugula just before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

• I recommend using Turkish apricots if available as they tend to be soft and meaty and ready to use right away. If you are using other kind of dried apricots that are super chewy and and even hard, you should soak them up for 5 minutes in warm water to soften them up before slicing and adding to the salad.

Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.