I've made this several times for potluck and come home with an empty bowl. Curried couscous 1 1/3 cups couscous cooked in two cups of orange juice Heat in micro: 2/3rd cups dried cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped apricots in one cup of water to plump up Finely chop 2-3 scallions with green toast 2/3 cup walnuts Toss with 1 Tbl curry powder, freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Add at least 2 Tbl olive oil to keep from lumping. And 1/4 cup more of orange juice before serving if too dry

Being that the flavor of couscous is pretty neutral, your imagination can pretty much run wild. I like to Cook the couscous and fluff it, then saute ingredients to add. Fresh, halved cherry tomatoes sauteed briefly in EVOO with garlic & julienne fresh basil leaves is great this time of year. Caramelized onions & minced fresh sage, oregano or rosemary are good additions as well. Cooking the couscous in liquids other than water adds flavor as well. I have used various stocks, sometimes combined with wine or fruit juices. A very easy side dish, because couscous cooks so quickly, is to use leftover vegetable, French onion, beef barley, potato leek or other soups as the liquid in which you cook the couscous. A nice, nutty flavor can be obtained by toasting the uncooked couscous in a dry fry pan before cooking. I like to toast half and leave half untoasted, which also enhances the presentation, as the couscous will have a speckled look. Just put the desired amount of couscous into a heavy saute pan over a moderate heat. Keep a close eye on it, stirring or flipping ever more frequently as the pan heats up to prevent scorching. Remove from pan a few seconds before you think it is toasted enough, as the residual heat can over-toast it. Another nice presentation is to cook half the couscous with some turmeric and half without, or do thirds, one toasted, one raw and one with turmeric. The couscous you cook with turmeric will be bright yellow, which with the lighter yellow and darker yellows will be pretty, especially if you toss in some green herbs or onions right before serving. Here are two of my couscous recipes: Gingered Cous Cous 1 C couscous (Moroccan style, not Israeli*) 1 1/2 C water or chicken stock or boullion 1"X 2" piece of ginger root, thinly sliced 1/2 C yellow onion-half inch dice 1/2 C celery-half inch dice 1/4 C carrot-quarter inch dice 1/2 C frozen peas 2 T green onions-sliced 2 cloves garlic-minced 1" X 1" piece of ginger root, peeled and grated fine. 3 T olive oil Salt & pepper Bring water or chicken stock and thinly sliced ginger to a boil, add couscous and stir for one minute. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit 5 minutes. Then put the couscous in a bowl and separate the grains with a fork until the couscous is light, with no lumps, removing ginger slices. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over a med-high heat. Saute the yellow onions, celery and carrots for appx. 5 minutes, until onion is translucent and just beginning to turn golden on the edges. Add the frozen peas, garlic and grated ginger and saute briefly until ginger and garlic are fragrant, but not browned. Add fluffed couscous, stir to mix ingredients and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. (If you used boullion to make the couscous, you probably won't need salt.) *Moroccan couscous is what is typically found in grocery stores. It is a fine, granulated semolina pasta. Israeli couscous is a larger variety, the individual pieces being round, about 1/4 the size of a pea. Lemon scented Couscous with Cranberries 1 c couscous (Moroccan style, not Israeli) Juice of one large lemon (appx. 1/3 c) + enough water to make up 1 ½ c total liquid. 1 t sugar ½ t salt ¼ t tumeric powder Zest of one lemon (be careful to get only the yellow, with as little pith as you can manage), appx. 1 packed t. 1 t brown mustard seeds (yellow are fine, though not as pretty) ¼ t asafoetida powder* 1 large serrano pepper, quartered. 10 Kari leaves** 3 T chopped, dried cranberries ¼ c coarsely chopped, raw cashews 2 T chana dal*** 1 green onion, chopped (appx 1/3 c) veggie oil for frying Bring water, lemon juice & tumeric to boil. Add couscous and stir for about a minute. Then cover saucepan, and remove from heat, setting aside to soften for 5 or 10 minutes. Fluff with a couple of forks until the grains are nicely separate. Deep fry the cashew pieces over a moderate heat until golden brown, remove from oil and set aside to drain. Repeat with chana dal. Reserve the oil. Heat enough of the reserved oil (med-high heat) in a large saute pan to ensure couscous doesnÂt stick. Add the mustard seeds, cover and gently shake the pan now and then until the popping of the seeds slows down. Remove cover and add the serrano pepper quarters, asafoetida, and Kari leaves, and saute until the leaves wilt and are fragrant. Add cranberries and couscous and toss to mix the ingredients and heat the couscous through. Remove from heat, and toss in the cashews, chana dal, lemon zest and green onions. Adjust for salt and serve. *Asafoetida is a strongly scented powdered spice made from the sap of a herbaceous perennial plant. It is available from Indian grocery stores, and is used much as we use garlic powder. A blend of onion and garlic powders can be substituted, but add it to the oil right before tossing the mustard seeds and kari leaves into the couscous rather than cooking it with them. **Kari leaves are also available in some Indian markets, fresh is best. There really is no comparable substitute, but the recipe will be very tasty made with a different fresh herb. A few fresh sage leaves would probably be my choice, but some fresh basil, minced rosemary, thyme or savory would be good choices as well. ***Chana dal is a small relative of the garbanzo bean, which is dried and split. It adds a nice crunchy texture and nutty taste to the couscous. Again, it is available at Indian markets. If you canÂt find it, substitute extra cashews.

Might be too late for this dinner, but Israeli couscous does need some flavoring or other. If the Salmon was in a sauce, even as simple as a lemon caper butter, I'd say you could serve it alone, as long as the sauce got dribbled over the couscous. But, pecan coated is tasty but fairly dry, and Israeli couscous really has very little flavor (though it has a great, unusual texture) on it's own, and in addition can get sticky-clingy quite quickly as it cools. Even a simple, light sauce will help. A wee bit of garlic butter, or olive oil & lemon? A few minced fresh herbs if you've got them, or finely sliced green onions if you haven't. I do cook couscous (both kinds) in stock rather than water, unless I'm cooking for vegetarians, just for a bit of added flavor.

I will have to give this a try.....I'm beginning to like dried fruit in my salads. Thanks. RL`