Our pearl couscous salad with pomegranate, pistachios and fresh herbs makes a Middle Eastern salad that’s loaded with texture, flavour and aroma. It’s essentially a traditional village salad with the additions of pearl couscous, pomegranate seeds, pistachios and a mix of herbs, but it’s super versatile. Use bulgur or quinoa and whatever nuts or herbs you have on hand.
Our pearl couscous salad with pomegranate, pistachios and fresh herbs will make you another of our best Middle Eastern recipes. It’s one of my favourite Middle Eastern salads, alongside a farmers salad for salata falahiyeh – also called a village salad, Palestinian salad, Arabic salad, and chopped salad or salata na’ameh – and fattoush, like a farmers salad but with the addition of pomegranate seeds or pomegranate molasses and homemade crispy pita chips.
Traditional farmers salads or village salads are found right across the Middle East and Europe and, like my Russian family’s garden salad, consist of classic salad ingredients – tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, maybe capsicums (bell peppers) or olives, fresh herbs (which vary according to what’s grown in the region) salt and pepper, and a simple dressing of olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice. Although I use this classic French vinaigrette on my salads.
This pearl couscous salad – which is made with tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, shallots or purple/red onions, pomegranate seeds, pistachios, and plenty of flat-leaf parsley dominating that mix of fresh herbs – shares elements with that other popular Middle Eastern salad, tabbouleh. While a traditional tabbouleh is made with bulgur, I often use couscous, which is wonderful in this salad.
Now let me tell you about this pearl couscous salad recipe, one of my favourite recipes.
Pearl Couscous Salad Recipe with Pomegranate, Pistachios and Fresh Herbs
This pearl couscous salad can be used in the same way you use a village salad, fattoush or tabbouleh, as a fantastic starter served with Middle Eastern mezze such as hummus, baba ganoush and muhammara, or as a side to meatier mains such as kebabs, meatballs and shish tawook, and this Middle Eastern spiced rice dish.
What I love about this pearl couscous salad is that it has loads of fresh flavours, aromas and texture, which comes courtesy of the the pistachios (or any nuts you want to use; walnuts and crushed cashews are also delish) and pearl couscous.
So what is pearl couscous? Well, what pearl couscous is not is couscous – or ‘gourmet couscous’ as I saw it called. Although if you can’t find pearl couscous for this salad, you could use couscous, bulgur, or faro or spelt instead. I’ve spotted some blogs describing pearl couscous as big couscous but that’s not true.
What we call ‘pearl couscous’ in English is called berkoukes or berkoukech in the Berber language in Morocco, Libya and Algeria, where it’s also called aïch, and m’hamsa in Tunisia. In the Levant, it’s called maftoul in Palestine and moghrabieh or moghrabiyeh in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, where it’s translated into English as Palestinian couscous, Lebanese couscous, Syrian couscous, and Jordanian couscous.
To confuse things further, moghrabiyeh translates to ‘from the Maghreb’, the Maghreb or Arab Maghreb being the name given to the north African countries of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Morocco – home to couscous as most of us know it.
Couscous from the Maghreb is made from rolled semolina or milled durum wheat and originated in the ancient kingdom of Numidia, present-day Algeria, where archaeologists found 3rd-century BC cooking vessels similar to the modern kiskas (Arabic), taseksut (Berber), couscoussier (French), or steamer used to steam couscous.
Whereas pearl couscous or maftoul, moghrabiyeh etc is made from bulgur – a Turkish and Persian word, or burghul in Arabic – which is a ground whole wheat grain, also called cracked wheat, and not the durum wheat that used to make semolina and pasta, which is also called pasta wheat.
Tips to Making this Pearl Couscous Salad Recipe with Pomegranate, Pistachios and Fresh Herbs
I only have a few tips to making this pearl couscous salad with pomegranate, pistachios and fresh herbs, as it couldn’t be easier and it’s also very versatile.
Do use pearl couscous if you can, but if you can’t source it, use the smaller or medium grained couscous, which as I explained, above, is actual couscous. Or use bulgur or quinoa or another grain.
Prep the pearl couscous according to the packet instructions, as methods and times vary according to the brand. Most brands of pearl couscous require frying the pearl couscous in extra virgin olive oil before simmering it in water.
When the pearl couscous is ready, allow it to cool. While the pearl couscous is cooling, you can prep your salad ingredients. Then, all you need to do is combine everything.
In a large salad bowl, use a big wooden spoon to combine the pearl couscous, half the pomegranate seeds, diced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar (or lemon juice), fresh herbs, and half the pistachios.
Taste your pearl couscous salad and adjust the seasoning to suit your palate then transfer to a salad bowl to serve. Sprinkle the rest of the pomegranate seeds and pistachios on top of the salad, and serve immediately.
Pearl Couscous Salad Recipe with Pomegranate, Pistachios and Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 100 g pearl couscous
- 1 pomegranate - seeds only, divided
- 12 cherry tomatoes - diced
- 1 cucumber - diced
- 1 red capsicum - bell peppers, diced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp ground cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar - or lemon juice, traditionally used in the Middle East
- 2 tbsp pistachios - shelled, toasted (optional), divided
- 1 cup fresh herbs - roughly chopped, fresh mint, dill, coriander, flat-leaf parsley,
Instructions
- Prep the pearl couscous according to the packet instructions, as methods and times vary according to the brand; some require soaking the pearl couscous, others call for first frying the pearl couscous in olive oil before simmering it in water.
- In a large salad bowl, use a big wooden spoon to combine the pearl couscous, half the pomegranate seeds, diced cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, fresh herbs, and half the pistachios.
- Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning to suit your palate then transfer to a salad bowl. Sprinkle the rest of the pomegranate seeds and pistachios on top, and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if make this pearl couscous salad with pomegranate, pistachios and fresh herbs as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
