In this heat, it’s time to round up some terrific salads, by which I mean hearty ones that are more than lettuce leaves with dressing. Pasta salads are of course a favorite but today I’m going to replace the pasta with couscous, according to Food.com, “a granular semolina (a coarse wheat often used to make pasta), which has been moistened with water, lightly covered in flour, and rolled into tiny beadlike pellets.”
There is also a larger variant, pearl couscous, which I prefer for salads, but the fine-grained variety is equally delicious.
Spicy chickpea & couscous salad
This refreshing side dish takes but minutes to assemble and requires only boiling water as the “cooked” element. If you can’t find dried cherries, substitute figs or dates. If you use lemon juice instead of orange juice, add 1 tsp agave or maple syrup.
Ingredients:
1 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup dried cherries (or dates or figs)
1 red or orange bell peper, rough cubed
1 onion (red or Vidalia) cut into thin slices
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp orange juice or
2 Tbsp lemon juice
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Add boiling water to couscous and cherries in a large bowl; cover tightly let sit at least 5 minutes.
Heat 3 Tbsp oil in large skillet—keep on low flame—add onions, peppers, spices and saute until just tender.
Add contents of skillet to couscous mixture along with the chickpeas.
Whisk together remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil with vinegar and orange juice and pour over salad.
Allow at least one hour for flavors to meld. The same holds true for our next salad.
Serves 6-8
Tuscan tomato couscous salad
Now that fresh mozzarella can be found in most grocery stores, this recipe is a breeze. You can choose from the smallest sized perle or perline up through the slightly larger noccioline, to ciliegine (“small cherries”) and on to the bite-sized bocconcini (“small mouths”).
Ingredients
12 oz couscous
16 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ small red onion, minced
3/4 cup ciliegine or bocconcini
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced (en chiffonade)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
3 Tbsp olive oil
1½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the couscous according to directions and allow to cool.
Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl, add the couscous, season with salt and pepper, and serve! Doesn’t get much simpler than this.