Spring Couscous Salad in Your Pressure Cooker
This vibrant spring couscous salad blends fresh peas, herbs, and toasted pistachios with zesty lemon and warm spices, all prepared quickly using a pressure cooker for bright, fluffy results.
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 0.5 small red onion 75 g, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
- 1 cup english peas 135 g, fresh works best
- 1 cup pearl couscous 160 g
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup arugula roughly chopped for peppery bite
- 0.5 cup parsley 10 g, finely minced
- 0.5 cup mint 10 g, finely minced
- 0.5 cup roasted pistachios roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoon olive oil for richness
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2.5 teaspoon za’atar 2-3 tsp
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
- kosher salt for seasoning as needed
Instructions
Instructions
- First, bring 1 ½ cups water and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a boil in your pressure cooker pot. You want the float valve down so it seals tight later on.
- Add pearl couscous into the boiling salted water. Close lid and set to high pressure for about 5 minutes. Use natural release for 10 minutes so couscous stays fluffy and not wild mush.
- Quick release any leftover steam once done. Drain if you see extra water then transfer couscous to a big bowl so it can cool a bit.
- While couscous is resting, blanch English peas. You can do this right in your pressure cooker pot with water boiling, just 2 minutes on quick release makes 'em perfect and crisp.
- Dump peas, sliced onions, arugula, parsley, mint, and chopped pistachios into couscous bowl. Toss it all gently so you don’t squish the ingredients.
- Whisk lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, olive oil, minced garlic, za’atar, and cumin in a small bowl. Pour dressing over the salad and toss again real gently. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve chilled or room temp - dang, you’re done!
- Grab frozen peas instead of fresh to save peeling and shelling fuss by steaming them in your pressure cooker on quick release.
- Use pre-toasted pistachios and pre-minced garlic or dried za’atar from the store to save time when making the dressing.
Notes
Serve chilled or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or keep salad and dressing separate until ready to serve.