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This delicious Green on Green Couscous Salad comes together quickly, is loaded with great healthy, fresh ingredients and has a burst of vibrant flavor with every bite.
So you're going to an end-of-summer or back-to-school potluck, you know there'll be an array of the typical high-fat, over-processed foods and you want to make a statement. That great nutrition can have fabulous flavor as well. Or maybe you've just overdone it lately on junk food. Perhaps you're trying to feed your family more healthy, without sacrificing deliciousness. You've come to the right place - for sure!! This Green on Green Couscous Salad makes a wonderful side dish for any type of meat, poultry or seafood, but can also be a meal on its own. Sound good?
If you're not familiar with couscous, you're going to be pleasantly surprised. Couscous is a fine-grained pasta and is a staple in the African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. It's also a favorite in Sicily and France and has grown in popularity in recent years in the United States. On it's own, it can be fairly bland, but I like to think of it as a blank palette; a starch that can take on a myriad of flavors and personalities.
With the herb garden overflowing this time of the year, I snipped basil and parsley and threw together a pesto. Along with the summer herbs, I added cilantro, parmesan cheese, a handful of pistachios, fresh lemon juice and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. A whirl in the food processor produced a vibrantly green pesto that brought my plain, simple couscous to life.
- Ingredients for the salad:
- 1 ½ cups couscous
- 2 ¼ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup fresh basil packed
- ½ cup fresh cilantro packed
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley packed
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup pistachios
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 ears fresh corn kernels cut from cobs
- 1 cup frozen edamame cooked according to package directions
- ½ cup finely diced red onion
- 4 medium green spring onions finely sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula
- ¾ cup crumbled Feta cheese optional
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- 2 tablespoon pistachios and lemon slices or wedges for garnish
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Place couscous in a large bowl. Bring broth to a boil on stove top or in microwave. Pour hot broth over couscous and stir to combine. Immediately cover couscous tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside for 10 minutes, then uncover and fluff with a fork. Cover again with plastic wrap and set aside till ready to use.
-
While couscous is resting, combine basil, cilantro, parsley, garlic, pistachios and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 2-3 minutes or until everything is finely minced. Add olive oil, lemon juice and water and mix again until well combined. If mixture is still quite thick, add another 1-2 tablespoons of water.
-
Add pesto to bowl with couscous. Stir well to combine and incorporate all of the pesto. Add corn, edamame, red onion, green onion and arugula*. Str gently to combine. Place on individual plates or on a large serving platter. Scatter pistachios over the top. Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with Feta, if desired. Serve with lemon slices or wedges.
* I like to reserve a bit of each of these to scatter on top, just before serving.
Leslie says
Can you substitute Israeli Couscous?
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Leslie!
Shulie Foodwanderings says
Love this twist on pesto and the green couscous a departure from the routine same ole' same ole' 🙂
Liz Berg says
Oh, boy. Much as I love my nibbles of sweets, it's dishes like your marvelous couscous salad that really fill my menu. Can't wait to try this one 🙂
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Chris, what a lovely green couscous salad - I have made so many salads with wheat berries and pearl barley in the last couple of weeks - it is easy to loose sight of the lovely couscous - your salad sounds delicious and it looks so very vibrant and healthy, full of wonderful ingredients!
Pam says
So many great flavors & textures in this couscous. It looks terrific.
Martha says
looks too pretty to eat and I've never had couscous. Imagine that! lol
Beth says
I agree - couscous on its own doesn't have much flavor, but mixed with other ingredients it's great. This salad looks so healthy and delicious!
Sue/the view from great island says
This looks not only beautiful, but so healthy. I just love our photos, too!
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
Chris I love cous cous, could eat it as a meal every day so I will definitely be making this when it warms up a bit and my herbs grow a bit more. Right now I would get about a tbsp of pesto.