Wine and food pairings 19: Couscous salad Nicoise

The Wine Curmudgeon pairs wine with some of his favorite recipes in this occasional feature. This edition: three wines with a couscous rendition of the classic salad Nicoise.

Regular readers know how much the Wine Curmudgeon loves couscous. And why not? It’s cheap, almost too easy to make, and surprisingly nutritious. I even sold a freelance piece to the AARP magazine about it.

So, given Dallas’ brutal summer, why not use couscous to make a version of the classic salad Nicoise? Even better, it came together with leftovers and pantry ingredients. About the only thing one needs to buy is the fresh herbs (unless your garden didn’t fry this summer).

The other thing I love about this? You can use almost anything you want, keeping in mind the Nicoise style (and the proportions don’t matter all that much, either). So the salad in the picture — yes, I remembered to take a picture — doesn’t include olives or anchovies, but why not? And I didn’t have scallions, so I used diced red onion. And I had half a green bell pepper in the fridge, so I diced it and mixed it in. Don’t have lemons for the vinaigrette? Then use limes or white wine vinegar. Almost any herb mixture will work; I had cilantro, Italian parsley, and mint, so I used those. But why not chives, dill, oregano, or thyme?

The egg, by the way, is soft cooked and then cut with a scissors to show the yolk — talk about food styling. But hard cooked, chopped or sliced, will work, too.

Click here to download or print a copy of the recipe. The wines to pair with this are spot on for summer:

• Domitia Picpoul de Pinet 2021 ($12, purchased, 13%): Classic French white — varietally correct (tart and lemony, with a softer middle); simple but not stupid; and bursting with value. Imported by Valkyrie Selections

• Crosby Chardonnay 2020 ($12, purchased, 13.6%): Yes, California chardonnay that isn’t too oaky or sweet at a fair price. It’s surprisingly balanced and fresh, with some subtle tart pear fruit and almost French in style. Nicely done.

• Château de la Chesnaie Muscadet 2021 ($12, purchased, 12%): This French white costs $8 in Europe, but it’s so enjoyable that those who charge $17 for it in the U.S. barely bothers me. Fresh, crisp, minerally, and just enough pear fruit so that it tastes like there is some fruit in it. Highly recommended. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selections

Blog associate editor Churro contributed to this post.

More about wine and food pairings:
• Wine and food pairings 18: Everyday split pea soup
• Wine and food pairings 17: Pan Bagna
• Wine and food pairings 16: Couscous mushroom sort of risotto

Slider photo: “Rome Elite Event: wine, food and nice people” by Yelp.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0