Greek-style couscous salad with melt-in-the-mouth chorizo & peppers.
A fresh, summery dish with some serious flavours behind it — at only 61p per portion, it’s great for a packed lunch or perfect for a picnic!
Perhaps you can tell by the name, but Jamie Oliver’s original recipe that this dish stems from, ‘Chorizo & Squid with Greek-style Couscous Salad‘, contains one pertinent ingredient that I’m lacking… I’ve only grown to like seafood in the last few years, after I was served a beautiful plate of salmon at a dinner party and was too polite to turn it down! But, this time, squid just seemed a little too much for me while I’m still getting used to those fishy textures & flavours, so I missed it out completely. Maybe next time when I’m feeling a bit braver, although I’ll have to experiment with how well it would keep over the week for lunch…
Even without the squid, this recipe really packs a punch! The couscous salad is wonderfully light, fresh, and summery (I immediately pictured it being a hit at a picnic on a swelteringly hot day), but then the earthy, salty, sweet & spicy burst of flavours from the chorizo, peppers, olives, & feta combo kicks in to lift the plate above & beyond… And then the harissa comes in, rounding it all off with its smoky undertones. Glorious!
Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 10 mins | Servings: 6
Essential kit: blender/food processor
Cost? I paid £0.61 per serving
- Couscous — 1 mugful (about 200g)
- Chorizo — 150g
- Peppers — 2 (any colours, mixed or the same)
- Spring onions — 3
- Spinach — 150g
- Garlic — 2 cloves
- Black olives — 12–15 (I use pitted olives because they’re cheaper but the stone in kind will have more flavour)
- Lemon juice — ½ a lemon is fine
- Fresh mint — large handful
- Feta — 50g
- Natural yoghurt (plain, Greek, fat-free or full-fat, whatever you fancy) — 4 tablespoons
- Oil for frying — just a dash (olive oil works well for this dish, but anything is fine really)
- Runny honey — 1 tablespoon
- Harissa — 1 heaped teaspoon
- Make couscous in the food processor (3 chopped spring onions; 150g spinach; ¾ of a large handful mint leaves; s&p; 1 mugful couscous; 2 mugs of water); add juice of ½ lemon when done
- Prepare chorizo mix (150g chorizo—sliced; 2 peppers—sliced; 12–15 olives—halved; 2 cloves garlic—finely chopped)
- Cook chorizo & peppers (5 mins); add 1 tbsp honey (1 min); add olives & garlic (~3 mins)
- Chop feta (50g) and mix 4 tbsp yoghurt & 1 heaped tsp harissa
- In the morning, combine couscous & chorizo mix, sprinkle feta over, and drizzle with yoghurt & harissa mix
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1
Servings Per Container 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories 194
Calories from Fat 98.1
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10.9g
17%
Saturated Fat 5.4g
27%
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0.0mg
0%
Sodium 665.8mg
28%
Total Carbohydrate 12.8g
4%
Dietary Fiber 1.3g
5%
Sugars 4.1g
Protein 10.6g
21%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Full Instructions
Make the couscous
3 spring onions (root end cut off & chopped into 3 or 4 pieces); 150g spinach; ¾ of a large handful mint leaves (save the rest for garnish each day); salt & pepper; 1 mugful/200g couscous; 2 mugfuls of boiling water
- Boil a kettle with about 500ml water in
- Add spring onions to a food processor with the spinach, mint leaves, and salt & pepper and blitz until finely chopped
- Remove the blade and add couscous & water
*tip* whatever you measure the couscous in, you want twice as much water, so just a 1:2 ratio
- Stir it all round, put the lid back on the food processor, and leave it to absorb
Cook the chorizo mix:
oil; 150g chorizo (thinly sliced); 2 peppers (deseeded and thinly sliced); 1 tbsp honey; 12–15 olives (halved); 2 garlic cloves (crushed or finely chop)
- Put a dash of oil into a large frying pan or skillet (like mine — see pictures) on a medium heat
- When hot, add the chorizo and peppers and cook for 5 minutes until the peppers soften nicely and the chorizo releases its oil
- Add honey to the pan and stir through for 1 minute
- Add the olives & garlic and cook for a few more minutes before removing from the heat
- Transfer the mix to a tub, including all the chorizo oil, and, when cool, put in the fridge until needed
Finish the couscous & prep the final ingredients:
juice of ½ a lemon; 50g feta (choped into small pieces); 4 tbsp yoghurt; 1 tsp harissa
- Fluff the couscous mix with a fork and add the lemon juice
- Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film, and pop in the fridge until needed
- Transfer the chopped feta to a tub and leave in the fridge until needed
- Add the yoghurt to a small bowl and ripple the harissa through it before covering with cling film and putting in the fridge until needed
In the morning:
remaining mint leaves (roughly torn up)
- Decant a portion of the couscous to a tub or lunch box and spoon a portion of the chorizo mix on top
- Sprinkle some feta pieces and mint leaves over the top
- Drizzle over the yoghurt & harissa mix
- Take to work and enjoy!
*hot option* leave the yoghurt & harissa separate when you take it to work; put the couscous and chorizo mix in the microwave for about 2 minutes; once hot, finish with a drizzle of the yoghurt & harissa
Zingy Chorizo Couscous
Melt-in-the-mouth chorizo & peppers with a Greek-style summer couscous salad – great for a PACKEDlunch or perfect for a picnic! *From The Hungry Hungry Husband and Jamie Oliver*
- 200 g couscous 1 mugful
- 150 g chorizo thinly sliced
- 2 peppers (any colour) deseeded and thinly sliced
- 3 spring onions root end cut off and chopped into 3 or 4 pieces
- 150 g spinach
- 12 black olives halved
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed
- 1 lemon juice of
- large handful fresh mint
- 50 g feta chopped into small pieces
- 4 tablespoons natural yoghurt plain, Greek, fat-free or full-fat, whatever you fancy
- just a dash oil for frying
- 1 tablespoon runny honey
- 1 heaped teaspoon harissa
- salt & pepper for seasoning
Make the couscous
Add spring onions to a food processor with spinach, ¾ of the mint (save the rest for garnish each day), and salt & pepper and blitz until finely chopped
Remove the blade, add the couscous and then twice as much water, i.e. a 1:2 ratio, couscous:water
Stir it all round, put the lid back on the food processor, and leave it to absorb
Cook the chorizo mix:
Put a dash of oil into a large frying pan or skillet on a medium heat and, when hot, add the chorizo & peppers and cook for 5 minutes until the peppers soften nicely and the chorizo releases its oil
Add the honey and stir through for 1 minute before adding the olives & garlic and cooking for a few more minutes, then remove from the heat
Transfer the mix to a tub, including all the chorizo oil, and, when cool, put in the fridge until needed
Finish the couscous & prep the final ingredients::
Fluff the couscous mix with a fork, add the juice of ½ the lemon then transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film, and pop in the fridge until needed
Transfer the chopped feta to a tub and leave in the fridge until needed
Add yoghurt to a small bowl and then ripple harissa through it; cover with cling film and put in the fridge until needed
In the morning:
Decant a portion of the couscous to a tub or lunch box and spoon a portion of the chorizo mix on top
Sprinkle some feta pieces and some of the remaining torn up mint leaves on top before drizzling over the yoghurt & harissa mix
*hot option* leave the yoghurt & harissa separate when you take it to work; put the couscous and chorizo mix in the microwave for about 2 minutes; once hot, finish with a drizzle of the yoghurt & harissa
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