The first in our "Super Simple Recipe" series!
We love tasty good food, but we are not big on spending long hours in the kitchen. I mean...we'd rather be outdoors, at the gym or even on the trainer! But we also recognize the need for clean, healthy food. Store-bought side dishes can be over-processes, over-priced, and full of strange ingredients. Anyone else bored with pasta, rice, and potato dishes?
Couscous to the rescue! The beauty of couscous is its fast cooking time; you can have a whole pot of it ready in less than five minutes. If you're already familiar with couscous, you don't have to be sold on its quick cooking time or its scrumptious texture that goes with almost anything. If you've never cooked it, now is a good time to start. You can find it at the store with the rice and pasta, or in the ethnic foods section. Buy a big bag because you'll be eating it again.
Quick and Easy Couscous Salad Recipe
- 6 cups cooked instant couscous (3 cups before cooking, then prepare per package instructions)
- 1or 2 large ripe red tomato, chopped
- 1 orange, peeled, segmented and diced
- 1 cucumber, cut into cubes
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion, diced
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a big bowl and mix well. That's it! Keep cool before serving.
Serving Suggestions and Variations
- Bonus if you have fresh parsley, cilantro or mint to toss in!
- If you run into people who balk at the idea of couscous, tell them it's like Southern cornbread salad. They'll eat it up.
- Couscous salad is even better with about 1/4 cup of Kalamata (Greek) olives added. Put them in if you're BBQ-ing with sophisticated palates, and while you're at it: throw in a handful of slivered almonds.
- Vary the veggies and their proportions according to your own taste. Feel free to skip the onions, swap the green peppers for red, or add chickpeas, black beans, or corn. Make it your own.
- Flavored olive oils taste delicious with couscous, as the flavor really comes out in this subtle dish. Try it with sundried tomato-flavored oil or garlic-infused oil