The trick to these spiced skewers is to cook the aubergine and tomato separately, as they have different cooking times. In edible terms, there is little worse than undercooked aubergine – be sure to get them cooking first so they have a head start.
Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt until it tastes briny like the ocean. When the water returns to a rolling boil, add the couscous and boil until al dente, about 7 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 1 minute longer. Drain the couscous and peas in a colander and run under a stream of cold water to stop the cooking process.
Fluffy, delicious and ridiculously fast (couscous is already cooked; we merely rehydrate it), spice this couscous any way you wish. To go with the lemon-honey chicken, I like some traditional Moroccan spices.
The salad holds in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Serve it with sliced tomatoes and spoonfuls of whole milk yogurt if you'd like.
Couscous is a pasta by way of North Africa and should be easy to find in the grocery. (Boxes should come with both stovetop and microwave cooking instructions.) This salad is good for when you just can't face another typical pasta salad at your block party, church picnic or family reunion. And this is just one version—feel free to change the herbs or to add any great vegetables you see at the market that weekend.