It was too hot to cook, but sometimes you have no choice. The day was heading for 41 degrees, and several people were coming for a Christmas meal. The air con was working ok, but the last thing I needed was to add a hot stove into the mix.

The meat (goat) was cooking on the BBQ. Entree and dessert were both cold and sorted in advance. That just left a load of salads and a starch that didn’t need a hot stove.

The easiest choice was couscous, but I still wanted to make it look pretty and festive. I’d seen some pomegranates at the greengrocer a couple of days before and one of those was just what I needed.

Pomegranate and herb couscous

1½ cups of couscous in a bowl. Same quantity of boiling water. Pour the boiling water into the bowl, as well as 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil. Stir and cover. Leave for 5 mins and then grab a fork and fluff up the couscous until there are no clumps left. Cover again and leave.

In a skillet or small frypan toast ¼ cup of chopped hazelnuts, 2 tbs of sesame seeds and ¼ cup of flaked almonds.

Big handfuls of mint and coriander, chopped. You can substitute parsley or other herbs for the coriander, but the mint is important.

1 chopped cucumber.

The seeds of 1 pomegranate.

Mix everything together with salt and pepper to taste.

Verdict: fresh and slightly nutty and delicious.