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Chilled Couscous Salad with Mango

A chilled salad of whole-wheat couscous, mango, chickpeas, yogurt or tofu, tahini, orange juice, cumin, ginger, raisins, dried fruit, and cilantro.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and chickpea match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 473 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Chilled Couscous Salad with Mango

Timeabout 3 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the couscous

  1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.

  2. Stir in couscous, return to a boil, cover and turn off heat.

  3. Let sit (without lifting the lid) until the water has been absorbed.

  4. Fluff couscous with a fork to break up any lumps.

Make the dressing

  1. Meanwhile, stir together tahini and orange juice to make a smooth paste.

  2. Place yogurt or tofu in a large mixing bowl and whisk until light and smooth.

  3. Whisk in tahini mixture, cumin and ginger.

Combine and chill

  1. Stir in chickpeas, mango and raisins.

  2. Stir couscous into mango mixture.

  3. Add cilantro and dried fruits if desired; stir until thoroughly blended.

  4. Cover and refrigerate until chilled through, about 3 hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

891Calories
45 gProtein
18 gFat
150 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 15 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Couscous1 cup cooked (157g)176
Chickpea1/2 cup canned (120g) drained134
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Mango1 cup diced (165g)99
Tahini1 tbsp (15g)89
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Tofu100g firm76
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Waternot in our table0
Fruitnot in our table0
Papayanot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + chickpeatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Cumin + gingertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Wheat + chickpeatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together53 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Orange + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,833 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Wheat + cumintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together153 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Couscous
Forms the bulk of the salad and absorbs liquid to become tender and fluffy.
Yogurt or tofu
Provides creamy body and moisture for the dressing base.
Tahini
Adds nutty richness and thickness to the creamy dressing.
Chickpeas
Add firm, hearty texture and substance to the salad.
Mango
Contributes sweetness, juiciness and fruity aroma.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Let the couscous sit covered without lifting the lid. Lifting the lid releases the steam that softens the grains, so they may stay unevenly firm instead of fully tender and absorbing the water.

Swap the tahini

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, orange, yogurt, tofu, cumin, ginger, chickpea):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Cashew nutfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Tahinithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, orange, yogurt, tofu, cumin, ginger, chickpea. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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