Greek Couscous Salad
Greek Couscous Salad! This healthy couscous salad is perfect for summer. Cooked couscous with cucumbers, chickpeas, tomatoes, parsley, olives and a tangy lemon dressing.
This is the food I love to eat. A hearty grain salad packed with vegetables and a tangy lemon dressing; I’ll eat this for breakfast, for lunch, for snack and most definitely over the sink at 7PM when I’m too tired to put anything else together for dinner. I occasionally feel this pressure to produce more creative, imaginative recipes but at the end of the day, I’m more simple than that. I like good food that doesn’t need to be messed with.
This greek couscous salad is my adaption of the salad I begged my mom to make over and over again when I was a kid: tabouleh. That was back in the day when we would buy the box of Near East, a bunch of fresh tomatoes from the market and be spellbound that something so simple could taste so good. One bite of tabouleh and I’m instantly transported back to my childhood home in Virginia, eating bowl after bowl of bulgur wheat with juicy tomatoes and lots of parsley.
This isn’t that, but it’s inspired by it. I traded in whole-wheat couscous instead of bulgur wheat because it’s a lot easier to find at the grocery store closest to my house and I love, love, love couscous. For the longest time I thought it was an actual grain, and not a pasta of sorts. It’s satisfying, tender and perfect in cold salads like this one.
I’m calling this Greek Couscous Salad because I’m tempted to call anything with kalamata olives Greek, but I supposed Mediterranean is more apt. Some of my favorite summer foods swim together in this bowl: chickpeas, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives. Sometimes I throw in some feta when I have it, same thing goes with mint. All of the bright, vibrant flavors and colors play very well together.
I suppose most people would consider this a side dish, but it’s mostly a meal for me. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll sometimes serve corn on the cob to go alongside. Years before I declared myself a vegetarian, this was actually my most requested summertime meal: tabouleh, corn on the cob, baguette and tomato salad. (you need the baguette to soak up all of the juices of the tomato salad!!) Nostalgia is what makes corn on the cob go perfectly with this salad.
I can’t think of anything better to enjoy this summer.
Greek Couscous Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dry whole wheat couscous
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/4 cup halved kalamata olives
- 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
- 3/4 cup chickpeas
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Place dry couscous and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl and stir with a fork to coat the grains.
- Pour the boiling water over the couscous and gently stir. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes, the fluff with a fork and let cool.
- Whisk together the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, onion powder and oregano.
- Add the couscous with cucumber, chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and parsley to the couscous bowl. Drizzle on the dressing along with a generous salt and pepper, then toss to combine. Season to taste, adding more salt/pepper as needed and serve.