I tried whole wheat couscous, using my favorite salad recipe. The recipe is very flexible. Basically, you dress the couscous with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing that is livened up with some curry powder. The dried fruit add-ins give the couscous a jewel-studded appearance. Simple, colorful, and delicious.
My favorite couscous salad (adapted from Sharing Our Best and The Kosher Palette)
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 red bell pepper, chopped (optional)
2 1/2 ounces currants, raisins, dried cranberries, or golden raisins, or a combination (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 bunch scallions, sliced thinly
1/4 cup chick peas (or more, as desired)
2 Tbl. toasted pine nuts or slivered or sliced almonds (optional)
Dressing
2 Tbl. lemon juice
4 Tbl. olive oil
1 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. allspice (optional)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Add salt and couscous. Cover pot and cook ten minutes (I turn off heat after 5 minutes).
Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
Fluff couscous and add dressing, dried fruit, scallions, and chickpeas and pine nuts.
This was a huge hit served with thinly sliced raw zucchini, dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh mint leaves. The recipe is from Simply Recipes, but I left out the cheese. The fresh mint worked well against the couscous salad flavors.
Tags: kosher palette, salad, vegetarian
Pragmatic Attic 
February 12, 2009 at 5:51 pm |
[…] Curried Quinoa Salad By pragmaticattic I am working my way through so many interesting cookbooks! The Real Food Daily Cookbook, by Ann Gentry, is a fascinating collection of vegan recipes from a Los Angeles restaurateur. I was immediately drawn to the recipe for Indian Quinoa Salad because it sounded more or less like my favorite curried couscous salad recipe. […]