Here I am again, cramming two weeks of French Fridays with Dorie recipes into one. I actually made the Roasted Peppers on time but just didn’t get around to posting them, and now another week has passed and it’s time for Couscous Salad.
It was still summer when I made the Roasted Bell Peppers. Warm enough that we used the grill to blister the peppers in a futile attempt to keep the kitchen cool. Warm enough that we enjoyed these delicious peppers out on the balcony alongside homemade (and delicious!) hummus from David Lebovitz and store-bought tzatziki. I love roasted peppers and they are one of the rare bell pepper recipes that my husband will knowingly eat, Dorie’s Chicken Basquaise being another rare example.
Since then autumn seems to have arrived and I’ve started reaching to the back of my wardrobe for sweaters and scarves. What a difference a week makes. But we still fired up the grill to make Dorie’s recommended Grilled Lemon Chicken to accompany this week’s Couscous (or in my case, Bulgur) Salad recipe. Dorie’s salad was bright, fresh, flavorful, and plentiful. Seriously, next time I either need to halve the recipe or invite an army for dinner. As for the chicken, well, we still need to work on our chicken grilling skills. Over the summer my husband’s grill has churned out delicious lamb and steaks along with assorted veggies over the course of many tasty dinner. But our few attempts at chicken have been a bit, well, dry. Something to continue working on next summer.
one expat's life 
Looks like a wonderful meal to me! I end up marinating a lot of our chicken…just overcooking it a teeny bit makes it so dry.
PS…the watermelon cukes are cute, but a little bitter for me!
That looks good with bulgur! Will need to try!
Whether it was couscous or bulgar, this salad lasted and lasted and lasted. I agree with Liz – marinate. The problem is you don’t want chicken to be raw or a little bloody inside so the tendency is to overcook it. Been there. Done that. Your peppers look lovely. Weren’t they good? I didn’t have enough of them although I made the full recipe. Wish I could have traded in half the couscous salad (which I liked) for more peppers (which I loved).
Gonna google bulgar -how-to- cos I do have an unopened pack of it in my pantry! That first picture is delish!
I served mine with chicken too! Glad you enjoyed the salad…I found the flavors a bit too overwhelming! I think it would have been better if I cut the spices some. Your table looks lovely! Happy weekend, Rose!
I made our salad with quinoa, so the protein was already there. It made a nice meal with corn on the cob. I love what you served with the peppers – a perfect hot summer meal.
Funny because I was just thinking I needed to visit David L’s blog- has been a while for me. The hummus from his recipe looks delish, but then both of Dorie’s recipe results look wonderful too. Smart of you to have grilled the peppers- I heated the already warm house with the oven. The couscous was fun and a double header for us as well. I really need to catch up on all my missed recipes ! And happy fall. I am actually ready for it this year ~ Tricia
Nice double-post! I really enjoyed this salad. I know I’ll make it again. I like knowing that other grains worked well too. I certainly have a pantry shelf full of choices. We’ve had a cool August, so it’s been feeling like fall for weeks. I do like pulling out a new assortment of clothes from the back of the closet though.
Looks like a lovely meal. I love hummus. I make my peppers on the grill too and don’t bother to peel the skin. Dorie’s recipe was too fussy for me. I loved the couscous salad and I made half a recipe. It did make a lot. Enjoy the fall weather. Summer is still raging in California.
Everything looks delicious. I am trying so hard to catch up too, and find
I missed a heck of a lot of them.
Chicken on the grill is always hit or miss – I usually marinate, but sometimes even that doesn’t work out….
We had tzatziki at a Greek restaurant last night – it was good, but I think the one we made for FFwD just might have been a tad bit better 🙂
Your peppers look good – so pretty – but the winner for me is your cous cous salad with chicken – the perfect meal.
Rosa I envy you the arrival of autumn! We are in Memphis, TN this week and its just as hot as Oklahoma and more humid! Chicken is a hard one I think. I want it cooked through, rare chicken is just gross, and its easy to cross over into tough and dry. At least you got the peppers blogged. I’ve done several (more than several really) that I never blogged. Your dinner on the balcony sounds perfect!
Your spread with the bell peppers looks wonderful! What a fun dinner!
I also posted about these together even though I made the roasted peppers on time. Glad I’m not the only one! I’m not quite pulling out the sweaters yet, but it’s definitely starting to feel more like fall here too. Grilled chicken is really hard. I actually think grilling a whole chicken is somewhat easier. It’s a little bit harder to over cook.
What a lovely feast! I’m envious of sweater weather – we are 116 today and projected 113 for the weekend. We find chicken grills better if we paillard it or make it an even thickness – don’t know if that helps or not, but it helps eliminates thick parts not cooking as quickly.