Couscous Salad

Couscous is a miracle grain. It cooks in 5 minutes, taste good as left overs and is exceedingly versatile*. Even on a hot day, the required preparation (boil 1 cup of water with butter, take off heat, pour in couscous and have sit covered for 5 minutes) is unlikely to raise the temperature of your house.

The ingredients to this dish are also totally negotiable. All quantities should be adapted to adapted to taste. This quantity serves 2-4 people.

Suggested Ingredients:
1 cup of whole wheat couscous
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 cup(s) fresh baby spinach leaves (may want to rip up slightly)
1/4-1/2 cup basil leaves ripped
1 can chickpeas (drained)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1-2 pinches of red pepper flakes
1 dash of salt

Steps:
1. Make Couscous: In a large sauce pan combine 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour 1 cup of dry couscous into the sauce pan. stir well. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork your done. You will be shocked at how easy this was if you have never made couscous from a box before.



2. Pour warm couscous over raw spinach and basil leaves. Stir. The warm couscous will slightly wilt the leaves for you.

3. Add in tomatoes, olive oil and chickpeas. Then season to taste with other ingredients.


This dish is a new favorite on our table and disappears fast. My dear husband likes that it includes chickpeas for protein and a variety of different vegetables. We typically serve it with a cucumber/purple pepper/tomato salad (tossed with a little pepper and balsamic vinegar) as we have been trying to fill 75% of our plate with vegetables. They go well together.

Dinner: A serving of steak, couscous salad and cucumber salad.



* My research (Wikipedia) has shown that couscous is able to cook so quickly because it is sold in a processed "minute rice" form. However, I contend that unlike minute rice, it taste very good as an instant. This could clearly be a result of my lack of experience with the long cook couscous.