Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Fluffy couscous along with salad vegetables and black eyed beans, with a simple vinaigrette. I like adding different textures into salads, with crunchy celery and peppers, along with the fluffy couscous and soft beans, it just makes things a bit more interesting

Cook/prep time; 15 minutes Yield; Four to six servings, depending on whether you serve this as a main or side

You’ll need;

1. 100g (dry weight) couscous
2. 150ml hot vegetable stock
3. Two sticks of celery, finely sliced
4. Four spring onions, finely sliced
5. One pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
6. One 400g tin of black eyed beans, thoroughly rinsed
7. 200g cherry tomatoes, halved

Method;

• Start by preparing the couscous. All you need to do is add it into a shallow dish, pour over the hot stock and pop a plate on top
  
• When you’ve placed a plate on top, leave it to absorb for 15 minutes. In the meantime you can prepare the vegetables and rinse the beans
• After 15 minutes the stock will have absorbed, now you can fluff up the grains with a fork
  
• Once the couscous has cooled down, add it along with everything into a large mixing bowl. Gently fold everything together to combine
  
• Leave the salad to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before serving

To make a quick and simple vinaigrette dressing I just used a 3:1 ratio of oil to vinegar. I used olive oil and white wine vinegar, then I added some dried Italian herbs to taste, and a pinch of salt and black pepper

You can make up a bottle of dressing and keep it in the fridge for one or two weeks. Just give it a really good shake before using it