Fish and Couscous Salad

Serves 2

• Virgin olive oil

  Olive oil

  Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.

  • Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
  • Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
• 200g various green vegetables, such as courgette cut into batons, green beans, or asparagus tips
• 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon or lime
• Handful of coriander

  Herbs

  Ideal for seasoning pastas.

  To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.

  , roughly chopped
• Salt

  Salt

  Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.

  Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.

• Black pepper

  Black peppercorns

  Best used as a condiment.

  They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.

  • Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
  • Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
  • Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
• 250g leftover cooked or canned fish

  Canned Fish

  Tuna flakes, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, all great emergency fish for salads, baked potatoes, pasta.

  If you have any leftover it’s best not to store the fish in tins. Instead, tip into a plastic container and cover with a lid.