added this 18 years ago
Couscous Salad - Sweet & Fruity!
What you need:
1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups boiling water
2 cups chickpeas
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil (i use a bit less)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 grated orange rind
2 teaspoons basil
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
pepper
What you do:
1) Mix couscous, raisins, turmeric, and boiling water. Cover, set aside for 10 minutes or so, then fluff with a fork.
2) In a separate bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients. Pour over couscous. Chill.
This couscous salad tastes completely different from all the other ones I've tried. The raisins and orange rind really set it apart. Its a family tradition for potlucks, company, and Christmas dinner.
Preparation Time:
10 minutes, Cooking time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time:
10 minutes
Servings:
8
SO HOW'D IT GO?
My first self cooked vegan meal! I'm not much of a cook so this is all very new to be, but this was relatively easy and quick. I didn't have the oranges though, but it still turned out amazing! and enough for lunch tomorrow! Thanks so much!
I used a 4-bean mix that included chickpeas, it turned out very tasty! I think this will become a favorite :-)
I've gotten to where I do a variation on this for lunch a couple times a week. Instead of adding a bunch of olive oil at the end, I've been using a little bit of oil to cook up some onions and garlic just a little bit (and sometimes another veggie if I have extra stuff lying around). When I mix that in with the couscous, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, etc., it always seems like there's plenty of dressing without the need to add more oil. Sometimes I leave out the lemon juice too, but it's definitely a crisper flavor with it. Thanks again for the recipe, it's so portable! I always throw it over some kind of greens--it's best with a dark green like spinach. This is officially a go-to lunch for me now.
;)b
I thought this was really great! I'm living in a temporary apartment, so I only have a small number of basic ingredients on hand, but I was getting bored with the pasta and salad dishes I always make. I had to substitute a couple of things. I don't have turmeric here, but I do have a spice mix for couscous that includes turmeric, but it also has a lot of ginger and other spices in it. It came out great! I also used lemon rind instead of orange, since I was already mutilating a lemon to get its juice. I also left out the basil.
I only needed enough for lunch today and tomorrow, so here are the modified proportions I ended up using:
1/2 c. uncooked couscous
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 t. turmeric
3/4 c. boiling water
2/3 c. chickpeas
1 small roma tomato
2 T. lemon juice (half a lemon's worth)
3 T. olive oil
1 sm. clove of garlic
grated lemon rind (from half a lemon)
3 pinches of salt
a little shake of pepper
It tasted good today still warm from the stove, and I'm confident that tomorrow's chilled version will be just as good! Thanks for this recipe, I'll keep it around even when I'm back home.