Moroccan Beef Couscous Warm Salad

Now this dinner came about because of two ingredients. One was the ribs eye steaks I bought a few days ago. As I said at the time they were not only on the bone, but they were enormous. To get them both a more normal size (and to fit them in the pan!) I decided to cut a large strip off each one and put them in the fridge for another dinner. The other was a perfect, round green courgette I cut from the greenhouse today. I couldn't chop it and ruin the shape so I cut it into wedges for this dish. You can use any courgette though of course.

Packed with flavour, this beef salad is served warm with couscous, apricots, almonds, creamy feta, coriander yoghurt and a generous helping of my red pepper pesto. Great for a dinner and impressive enough for a dinner party. I'd serve this in the garden to guests with a glass of crisp, dry white wine.

Ingredients:    (serves 2)

2 steaks (of your choice)
2 tsp. olive oil + 2 tbsp. for couscous
2 tsp. zatar seasoning (optional)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup couscous
2 cups vegetable stock (cube is fine)
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
25g coriander, chopped
1 courgette
6 dried apricots, quartered
50g feta cheese
handful sliced almonds
2 tbsp. natural yoghurt, with chopped coriander stirred in
2 tbsp. red pepper walnut pesto (recipe at bottom of page)

Method:

Season the steaks with a little salt & pepper, rub with the oil and zatar, if using, and garlic powder. Wrap in cling film and leave to marinade for 30 mins.

Put the couscous into a bowl and add the hot stock. Cover with cling film for 3-4 minutes and then add the tomatoes, onion & coriander, stir through with a tablespoon of olive oil. Re-cover and set aside.

Cut the courgette into wedges and sprinkle with salt & pepper and a drizzle of oil. Pop in a 200 C oven for ten minutes. Remove and set to one side.

Fry the steaks for about 7 minutes, turning half way through until cooked to your liking, remove and cover with foil to rest for 5 minutes.

To assemble: Get a large plate and spread out the couscous. Slice the steak on the diagonal and lay over the top of the couscous. Scatter around the courgette pieces and apricots. Crumble over the feta and top with sliced almonds. To finish, add a spoonful or two of coriander yoghurt and a couple of red pepper pesto. Serve warm.

For the red pepper pesto:

Chop two or three roasted peppers finely (I used ones from a jar) and put into a bowl. Add 20g breadcrumbs, 30g chopped walnuts, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Either serve chunky or put into a hand blender if you prefer it smooth. A lovely alternative pesto that works so well with Moroccan flavours.