Last of The Weekend Fun

Cous cous tabbouleh and leftover BBQ salmon

The age old Monday Blues, in my opinion, is the sugar crash after the weekend. At least mine is. It’s the inevitable bump down to earth when my husband goes back to work after time as a family, and the dip back to a more frugal diet after any weekend indulgences that we may have enjoyed.

I usually aim to eat quite light on a Monday evening and more often than not use up any bits left over from the weekends fun.

So this weekend we had a BBQ. I had decided to branch out a bit and among other things I did a side of salmon. I got the salmon from a mobile fishmonger that parks his van up in a local petrol station a couple of times a week. I was so excited when he pulled the fish out of his ice box it was all I could do not to photograph it and share it with someone. (Who probably would have thought I was a bit crazy.) It was a vibrant pink, proper salmon pink, not sallow or drained looking. I use an old method from a Jamie Oliver book to BBQ it. I have to say I was a bit dubious when I put it directly onto the bars but it worked brilliantly and my very favourite bit was the crispy skin.

Because of my salmon over excitement I did purchase a whole side, which might have been a bit excessive considering we had other dishes as well. Hence we have substantial leftovers.

The kids always love Cous Cous, I think it is just easy to eat, and it’s other virtue is it is really quick and easy to prepare on a Monday when you have completely run out of charge. Which I absolutely have today.

So it’s quick Cous Cous tabbouleh with left over BBQ salmon which even my husband will eat, and really does use up all my fridge detritus. I have used…..

250 grams cous cous
A splash of olive oil
A pinch of salt
1 lemon, juice and zest
4 spring onions finely chopped
4 inches of cucumber finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes finely chopped
A few mint leaves finely chopped
Left over salmon crumbled

I finely chopped some chilli for us to put in separately.

I throw it together by tipping the cous cous into a dish with a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt (I usually use Himalayan Pink Salt) and the juice of the lemon. I cover it with a plate or cling film and leave it while I do the chopping. Or, in this case, supervise my son while he does the chopping with his erstwhile kidsafe fox knife.

When the chopping is done and I have fluffed up the cous cous with a fork I add some lemon zest and all my other chopped ingredients.

 

Tip it onto a serving plate, sprinkle over the salmon and add some lemon wedges.

 

I really love to serve dinners at the table so everyone helps themselves. I think it’s really social for everyone to be digging in together and helping pass serving dishes around to each other.

The only drawback is that cous cous and kids can be a slightly messy combination.