Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Couscous
• 2½ Cups Vegetable Stock
• 200g Peas
• 1 Bunch Mint
• 1 Bunch Parsley (chopped)
• 1 Lemon (zest finely grated, juiced)
• 3tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions:

1. Fill a pot with your vegetable stock, mint and a generous pinch of salt and turn on the heat to high and bring the vegetable stock to a rolling boil.
2. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add your peas and cook for 1-2mins.  Remove your peas and set aside.
3. Add your couscous into your boiling vegetable stock, and cover the pot with a lid.  Turn off the heat and leave undisturbed for 5mins to allow the couscous to cook through.
4. When your couscous has cooked through, remove your mint and add your cooked peas, parsley lemon juice and zest, and olive oil.  Toss through until everything is well combined.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour into a large serving dish or bowl and serve.

Notes:

• I served the couscous with the lamb dish posted here. So I paired the couscous with mint and peas so that it would work in conjunction with the lamb.  However, you could swap the mint with another herb such as sage, rosemary, etc to better suit your taste.
• For this recipe, I used instant couscous as it’s the most common found in supermarkets and to make it easier for home cooks who are pressed for time.
• Always double check your seasoning when you’re about ready to serve.  Even though you already seasoned the vegetable stock at the beginning of the recipe, it’s important to do so again as the couscous is a starch which tends to mask salty flavours.
• Traditionally most couscous uses a 1:1 ratio of couscous to liquid.  I find this a touch dry so I used about 1:1¼ ratio of couscous to liquid.
• You could substitute the vegetable stock with chicken stock or even plain water, but I find vegetable stock to be more flavourful and the most appropriate for this specific recipe.