Fast and Simple "Taboule"

Don't you like a quick and easy recipe? Throwing everything in the blender? And make a big batch that's even better the next day?
I got this couscous recipe from my mom. It's a great summer cold dish that can be served as a main or a side. At home we called it "taboule", it's a distant cousin to the middle-eastern dish of the same name.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups couscous
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4.5 fl. oz (133 mL) lemon juice (comes as a pack where I shop)
• half to 1 yellow onion, depending on taste (I prefer half)
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 2 bellpeppers (1 red, 1 green)
• 5-8 sprigs of spearmint (use the leaves only!)
• salt to taste

Directions (prep time 10 mins):

1. Place the dry couscous in a big container, it will easily double in size
2. Clean and cut onion and tomatoes in a few pieces
3. Clean and cut the bellpeppers in smaller pieces (remove the seeds!)
4. In a blender, add olive oil, lemon juice, onion, tomatoes, bellpeppers, spearmint leaves, and salt to taste. Blend well to obtain a thick liquid.
5. Pour onto the couscous, mix with a fork, and place in the fridge for at least an hour. Afterwards, the couscous will have absorbed everything. Fluff it and it's ready to serve ! Note: it tastes even better the next day.

This recipe is easy to customize to your taste, so be adventurous ! Here a few ideas I have tried:

• add basil leaves with the mint, it will soften the taste a bit
• substitute a bellpepper with a yellow one, it will affect the overall juice color and it will give a sweeter taste
• substitute half of the onion with a shallot, personally too much onion makes me burp all day :)

Enjoy !

Pierre.