I often like to serve my tagines over a bed of light and fluffy couscous to soak up all of the extra tasty gravy. Normally I like to keep the couscous nice and simple so that it does not steal any of the thunder from the tagine but this time I wasted to dress it up a bit. I just could not resist adding some of those beautiful pomegranate jewels to the couscous and with a the red there already I just had to round it out with some green in the form of pistachios. Couscous can sometimes be a little on the dry side so I thought that tossing it in a vinaigrette would help keep it nice and moist and a pomegranate vinaigrette using pomegranate molasses was the perfect fit. I finished the couscous off with some fresh chopped mint and parsley. The pomegranate and pistachio couscous went really well with the pomegranate and date lamb tagine but it could also easily be served as a side for any number of dishes or even as a salad all by itself.
Pomegranate and Pistachio Couscous
ingredients
- 1 cup water (or broth)
- 1 cup couscous (I used whole wheat)
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/4 cup pistachios (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup mint (chopped)
- 1/4 cup parsley (chopped)
directions
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Remove from heat, mix in the couscous, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Fluff the couscous and mix in the remaining ingredients.
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic (grated)
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Mix everything in a small bowl.
Nina Timm says
November 18, 2009 at 3:27 amThis is a very clever dish, Kevin. I think it wold have complimented the tagine pretty well, but this beautiful couscous could be the star oof its own show just as well!!!! Beautiful!!
Mags says
November 18, 2009 at 3:43 amKevin, that's such a beautiful dish…love the colors! I just posted about pomegranates today too. I'd never had them before so it was a new experience for me.
Christian says
November 18, 2009 at 4:56 amLove that vinaigrette!
{lovely little things} says
November 18, 2009 at 5:19 amGreat flavor pairing
aga-aa says
November 18, 2009 at 9:35 amI must taste it! I think it could be very good!
Joanne says
November 18, 2009 at 11:36 amThis is such a beautiful side dish. You picked some of the best moroccan/middle eastern ingredients to put in here. Plus the colors are gorgeous!
Jenn says
November 18, 2009 at 2:11 pmWhat a bright and colorful dish!! I definitely need to use pomegranate more in my cooking, I love the combo with pistachios!
miss v says
November 18, 2009 at 2:53 pmi just found your blog and some of your dishes look fantastic! i can't wait to try some of them.
eonyc says
November 18, 2009 at 4:09 pmI might try this with quinoa! A friend brought me pomegranate molasses from Turkey and I've been trying to think of a way to use it! Thanks for the post!!
Dawn says
November 18, 2009 at 6:34 pmThis looks amazing Kevin! I was just talking about how much I like pistachios last night and up pops your newest post.
screwdestiny says
November 18, 2009 at 9:20 pmOh, I love pomegranates AND pistachios! Such a clever combination.
Pam says
November 18, 2009 at 9:35 pmBeautiful! I passed up some pomegranates at the store last week, and now I'm kicking myself!
Meg says
November 18, 2009 at 11:02 pmYum! The pomegranates are so sweet and delectable right now… I've been eating pomegranate arils on my oatmeal every morning.
Your couscous and tagine both look delicious, Kevin!
Kevin says
November 18, 2009 at 11:29 pmeonyc: This would be great with quinoa as well!
Claudia says
November 19, 2009 at 12:14 amGrand couscous.Perfect with the poms and pistachios and vinaigrette. That's all I need for the meal.
Allison Arevlao says
November 19, 2009 at 3:49 amooo, pomegranate and pistachios. I never would have thought to combine the two, but it sounds delicious. I've never used pomegranate molasses either, but I bet it's awesome. I love finding recipes like this – things I wouldn't have made otherwise.
Katrina says
November 19, 2009 at 4:48 amKevin, I saw this post today and had all the things to make it, so I made it for dinner tonight and thought it was wonderful! Thanks.
Oh, I didn't have POM molasses, so I just used some POM juice, so maybe not the same, but it was still great!
eatingRD says
November 19, 2009 at 4:39 pmthis looks absolutely wonderful! I just won a years supply of pistachios and am thinking of all kinds of ways to use them. this is definitely going on the 'must try' list, yummy!
eatingRD says
November 19, 2009 at 4:39 pmIs there any substitute for pom molasses?s
Coffee and Vanilla says
November 19, 2009 at 9:43 pmWhat a great salad. I will be making some pomegranate salads with couscous too, just came from Kalyn's blog and she made some nice couscous with sharon fruit… but today we had simple feta, leaf & pomegranate salad, will post recipe soon.
Have a great evening, Margot
Kevin says
November 19, 2009 at 11:25 pmeatingRD: You could use pomegranate juice though it would have a weaker pomegranate flavour. Better yet, you can make your own pomegranate molasses by by reducing 2 cups of pomegranate juice, 1/2 cup sugar and a splash of lemon until it takes the consistency of ta thick syrup, about 1/2 cup.
Cara says
November 21, 2009 at 6:15 pmI have some pomegranite seeds in my fridge right now and looking to do something fun with them this week. They are so delectable right now!
eatme_delicious says
November 27, 2009 at 6:33 pmOoo I LOVE the idea of using pomegranate and pistachios in couscous!!
Jessica says
January 30, 2010 at 4:16 pmInspired by your recent recipes, my a friend and I decided to do a pomegranate themed dinner. We did the red wine pomegranate lamb chops with this couscous dish and it was fabulous – the couscous absorbed the red wine sauce from the lamb and the flavors were incredible!
Much to our dismay however, we searched 2 stores and could not find fresh pomegranate. So, we substituted cucumber chunks for the pomegranate seeds in the couscous (we still used the pomegrante syrup in the viniagrette) and it was still really good!
Joanne says
April 29, 2010 at 11:43 amI just made this with blue cheese instead of the pistachios and loved it! That vinaigrette is delicious.
Anonymous says
April 22, 2011 at 2:30 amlooks amazing! i just did an entry about couscous and included a link to this page with one of your pictures (giving you credit, of course!) here's the link –
http://reluctantwwfoodie.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/couscous-with-lime-and-scallions/
Emily : RainbowDelicious.com says
November 7, 2012 at 1:10 amThis recipe was unique and delicious, thank you! I shared it on my most recent meal plan at RainbowDelicious.com