The Independent
Moroccan market salad
Serves 4
You probably won’t find a Moroccan salad like this in Morocco – unless it’s in someone’s home and the cook is a bit experimental. I cooked a similar dish for friends last year in Tangier which was inspired by a stroll around the medina, and is the way I like to cook when I’m abroad. You could use prawns or any other firm fish, or create a meaty version using chicken, rabbit or lamb.
500-600g monkfish or other firm fish fillet, cut into 2cm chunks
For the marinade
100ml olive oil
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp fennel seeds, chopped
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp sweet pimenton
1tsp tomato purée
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
The stalks from the coriander, finely chopped
For the tabbouleh
1tbsp couscous
3tbsp chopped parsley
3tbsp chopped mint
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
The juice of half a lemon
tbsp olive oil
For the dressing
The juice of half a lemon
3tbsp olive oil
tbsp white wine vinegar
To serve
A couple of handfuls of small salad leaves and herbs like baby spinach, rocket, flat-leaved parsley, coriander, sorrel
80g podded weight of broad beans
To make the marinade, heat the olive oil in a pan and gently cook the cumin, fennel, turmeric and pimenton on a low heat for a minute, add the tomato purée and a couple of tablespoons of water, stir well, remove from the heat and leave to cool. Put the fish in a non-reactive bowl or plastic container, season and stir in the marinade and garlic and chopped coriander stalks.
Cover and leave in the fridge overnight to marinate.
To make the tabbouleh, put the couscous in a bowl with the other ingredients and a tablespoon of water, stir well, season, cover and leave for 30 minutes.
Mix all of the ingredients together for the dressing and season.
Cook the broad beans in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, then drain.
To serve, drain the fish in a colander, reserving the marinade, heat a large, heavy frying pan on the stove with a little olive oil and fry the pieces of fish for 3-4 minutes on a high heat, turning them as they are cooking. You may need to do this in a couple of batches.
Drain the fish in a colander over a bowl to catch the juices.
Return any cooking juices and marinade to the pan and reduce them down to a tablespoon or so, and then add to the dressing.
Arrange the leaves on individual serving plates or a large sharing one with the broad beans and fish.
Spoon over the dressing and scatter the tabbouleh on top.
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