Healthy Mediterranean Couscous salad with lemon vinaigrette
 
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A delicious salad with bold Mediterranean flavors that you can make ahead of time!
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup pearl (or Israeli) couscous
  • ½ cup red onion, minced
  • 6 oz. (about ½ can) chickpeas or cannellini beans, rinsed well
  • 3 oz. sun dried tomatoes, sliced in olive oil, with the oil
  • ½ cup fresh parsley or fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ¼ cup mixed olives (packed in olive oil), cut in half and drained
  • 6 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
  • --- zest and juice of one (or half) medium organic lemon
  • ½ tsp. sea salt
  • ¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 1 medium garlic, finely minced (or grated with a microplane)
  • ¼ tsp. ground coriander (optional)
  • 2-3 oz. arugula
  • 1-2 oz. Greek Feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
  1. Cook couscous in plenty of water, according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain the water and let the couscous cool a bit then place in a large bowl.
  2. To the bowl, add the red onion, chickpeas, sun dried tomatoes and olives.
  3. In a separate, small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, grated garlic, sea salt, black pepper and coriander. Pour it over the couscous mixture, to taste (you might not need it all). Toss well to combine. Gently fold in the arugula, sprinkle the Feta over the salad and taste. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, and serve.
Notes
Instead of the pearl couscous, you can also use regular couscous (which does not require any cooking – just soak it hot water and fluff it up with a fork). You can also substitute any of the ancient grains like barley, farro or wheat berries for the couscous in this recipe – all of which are high in fiber and protein!
Recipe by Marilena's Kitchen at https://marilenaskitchen.com/mediterranean-couscous-salad/