Dinner with Bob, Jane, Kasey, Maddie, Bill, Liz, Will, Helen, Hayley, Lisa, Gus, Joe, Martha and of course Monty. Cous Cous salad

Still in Vermont, last night we headed over to Bob and Jane's for dinner. One of the pleasures of coming back here on a regular basis is the extended circle of friends that we have up here.
The Sweeney’s met Jane and Bob up here and then introduced them to us, meeting up with them and the very lovely Kasey and Maddie is now part of our summer ritual.
The deal last night was that they would provide the venue, the chicken, the sausages and the wonderful fresh Vermont corn and we would provide the salads and of course some booze to feed the ever-thirsty group of young (and not so young) Brits we were bringing too.
We arrived to the sounds of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes (well they are from Philly) and a very warm welcome from the gorgeous addition to their family, Monty the Golden Retriever.
We then set into a great evening with all fourteen of us finding a place to sit and given the loquaciousness of all three families the conversation barely stopped for a second for the whole evening.
My night ended with a cricked neck on our sofa at one thirty in the morning.... a less than perfect end to a fine evening.
So what about the recipe you ask.
Well this one's for Billy just to remind him of the ingredients and method for making the Cous Cous salad that has, I believe doubled his repertoire of dishes.

Ingredients

1 red pepper
1/2 cucumber (seeded)
6 Asparagus spears. Pre-cooked (grilled preferably) but still firm
2/3 sticks of celery
10 - 15 cherry tomatoes
Bunch of fresh mint
Bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley
Juice of a lemon
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Finely grated zest of the lemon (optional)
cous cous

Method

First cut all of the peppers, cucumber, celery and asparagus into into small equal sized pieces. Put into a mixing bowl.
Now get the cherry toms and squeeze out the seeds (downwards into the sink trying to avoid shooting them over the wall, the ceiling or your shirt) and then cut into quarters and add to the other veg.

Now add the juice of a lemon and the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Put cous cous into a wide flattish bowl and cover barely with hot water. Leave to stand until all the water has been absorbed and then rake the cous cous rather like a gravel drive until all the grains fluff up and are separate.

Now chop the herbs and grate the lemon zest

Now mix the vegetables with the cous cous and then add the herbs and lemon zest and mix again

taste and season again, drizzle with a little more extra virgin ..... and Bob's your uncle .... or your Vermont neighbour from Philly with the dodgy knees, the passion for cycling and an encyclopaedic knowledge of British and Spanish football ... yes football not soccer.

option

Add a finely chopped seeded red chilli for a bit of spice in your life.