can someone help me.. i am a bit fed up of pasta and rice so i thought id give cous cous a try but i have no idea what flavours i can put through it.. i have been told it can be quite bland if you try it plain..grateful for any ideas

I oven roast courgettes, red onions, aubergines, mushrooms, red peppers in olive oil and balsamic vinegar then mix this through the cous cous. You can either have it hot as an accompaniment or cold as a salad. Cous cous can be bland on it's own. Good luck.

I sometimes mix in small pieces of pineapple or some other fruit. Sometimes just some chopped chilli peppers with sultanas and/or chopped nuts.

Butter, salt, pepper and some powdered ginger (very finely chopped fresh ginger) works well.

Or, finely chop some fresh tomatoes, spring onions and coriander leaves, then stir in...

Couscous is very bland on its own. Put some couscous in a bowl add finely chopped red onion/shallot and a little white wine vinegar. Pour over hot chicken (real) stock and leave 'till it soaks it up. Add more hot stock if it looks very dry. After about 10mins add 3 or 4 chopped de-seeded toms., roasted and chopped peppers, chopped coriander and flat leaf parsley. Fork thru' to free up the couscous and to mix all the ingredients. Pour over some extra virgin olive oil and mix again then enjoy.

Gosh, my mouth is watering that sounds great. Some great ideas here, glad I joined the site now.

Mint is a good alternative to the other herbs mentioned above - I've got masses growing in the garden at the moment so I'm trying to think of ways of using it up!

so is mine !!! thanks for all your great suggestions, i am going to the supermarket this afternoon for loads of ingredients and i will make some for tea tonight ..

cant you tell i am from the north !!

Hi fategg....I was curious about cous cous too cos. I'd never tried it and I just did not like it....it wasn't the flavour....it was the texture....it felt like little polystyrene balls in my mouth....I would be interested to know what you thought...

goldie - it's for this reason I don't like quinoa - has the texture you describe - have you tried it? but I do like cous cous and bulgar wheat.

already flavoured couscous exists as well - they sell it at delices de maud - have a look on any search engine

how about chicken stock and a bit of butter? then mix with lots of freshly ground black pepper, chick peas, sultanas chopped spring onion/chives