waltondammerung

Very lunchable

Sandwiches can get boring, and leftovers are often difficult to take with me to the park at lunch, so I've taken a cue from my friend Neta and started making big batches of couscous salad for my lunches at the beginning of every week. They're economical, they can be eaten cold, and best of all, there is a wide variety of salads you can make with couscous. Here is my favoriate so far, from cdkitchen.com:

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Mediterranean Couscous
Ingredients:
8 ounces Israeli couscous
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
4 ounces fresh spinach, julienne cut (matchstick size strips)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup black olives, diced (Calamata olives preferred)
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
4 ounces Feta cheese
***Lemon Vinaigrette:***

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste
sugar to taste
Directions:
Cook Israeli couscous according to package directions. Set aside and cool.

To make vinaigrette, mix olive oil and lemon juice with whip. Add sugar and kosher salt to taste.

Heat olive oil in a pot, add garlic and heat for 30 seconds while stirring. Add fresh spinach and stir until wilted and fully coated.

Remove spinach and cool. Add all remaining ingredients including vinaigrette and spinach (excluding Feta cheese) and mix well. Chill salad.

Garnish with Feta cheese before serving.

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I added a can of chicken to make it more substantial. Although tasty, it is a bit more expensive to make than some other couscous salad recipes. To cut the cost a bit, I used dried oregano instead of fresh and cut some mint from my porch. Maybe I should consider growing oregano again, too. :)

Posted by waltondammerung at June 12, 2005 6:31 PM