Cous Cous Fruit Salad

Couscous salad inside a little fishbowl shot glass

This is my October entry for Royal Food Joust by the Leftover Queen: Cous Cous Fruit Salad.  This is my favourite immune booster dish for the cold-autumn and approaching winter.  For this dish, I used ingredients in its purest and freshest form.  Raw minced garlic, zested lemon, juice of orange, and poached sweet potato.  The flavours are intensified by the its citrus, red wine vinegar dressing with a kick of spice and a hint of agave.  The mix of fruits: papaya, mango, strawberry added not only the much needed Vitamin C for the winter, but also a layer of texture and flavours to contrast the citrus in the dressing. Fish, too, was marinated in cayenne pepper and orange juice.

I love acidic food.  It is great for your digestive system, and makes great appetizer, or cleanses your palate after a meal.  If you don't like acidic food, add a couple tablespoons of cashew cream or real cream into the salad dressing.  This is a dish inspired by the second set of Boot Camp by Walter Messiah.  I started making this dish during my black box cook-off.  Afterwards, I refined it with each dinner I hosted at home. My parents loved it, even my cream-loving-citrus-hating mother.  This salad (ie. without the fish) is completely vegan, cane sugar, and soy free. If you take out the couscous too, it would also be gluten free! Yet, it is still full of flavour and nutrients.

Ingredient:
(serves 4)

4 Pieces of Halibut
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 Orange
1 cup Israelis Couscous
½ Papaya (cubed)
½ Mango (cubed)
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Large Tomato (cubed only the skin)
½ Red Onion (minced)
½ Bunch cilantro (chopped)
1 Lime or lemon (zested)
¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 tbs Agave Syrup
1 large Sweet Potato (cubed)
1 tbs cashew cream (or cream) (optional)

Instruction:
1. Pre heat oven 400F
2. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on the meat side of the halibut. Juice half of the orange and marinate the halibut it in.
3. Bring water to boil.  Add in sweet potato. Once it is cooked, blench, drizzle on the cashew cream cream, and set aside
3. Boil water to boil.  Add in the couscous.  Cover, lower the heat to low.  Once it is cooked, about 30-40 minutes, blench, set aside
4. Mix in Papaya, mango, garlic, tomato, onion, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, lime zest, cayenne pepper, olive oil, cilantro, juice from the other half of the orange in a bowl, set aside. When it is ready to be served, combined it with sweet potato and couscous.
5. Over high heat, put olive oil in a pan. When the olive is slightly smoking, sear the halibuts meat side down for a minute. Put the pan in the oven for 5 minutes.