Israeli Cous Cous Salad

Holy. Balls. I've been gone for a year! It's been a good year. I got married and had a little baby girl. To say I've been busy has been an understatement.

But, that hasn't stopped me from coming up with some yummies for my tummy.

There was a restaurant in Scottsdale that I LOVED. One of my favorite dishes there was their Israeli Cous Cous Salad. Sadly, it closed and my hand was forced to come up with an alternative that could somehow measure up to the wonder that is Israeli cous cous.

I made the recipe for this salad up while I was wandering through Trader Joe's. I hope you like it! As always, make whatever changes to suit your taste. :-)


2 Cups Israeli Cous Cous
2 Cups Chicken Stock
2 TBSP Unsalted Butter
1/4 C. thinly sliced red onion (make sure this isn't long strands of onion, that's just yucky)
1/2 C. chopped scallions (not the white part, only the green)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 C. toasted almond slivers, chopped
3/4 C. mandarin oranges, drained
1 C. whole kernel corn (I used canned, just be sure to rinse)
1 C. grape tomatoes, quartered

Dressing
1/2 cucumber, grated (keep the juice!)
1 clove garlic, grated
S&P to taste
Drizzle of Olive Oil
1 C. 2% Greek Yogurt
1 tsp. lemon juice

Put two pats of unsalted butter and about a tsp. of Olive Oil in a pot and melt. Add Cous Cous and stir frequently to toast. You can skip toasting the cous cous, but toasting it adds so much more flavor. Once the cous cous has some color, add the stock, stir and bring back up to a boil. Once the cous cous is boiling, put a lid on it and knock the heat back to low. Cook about 12 minutes.

While the cous cous is cooking, prep the veggies. Get them all chopped and add to a large bowl. Once you've chopped up all of the veg, make the dressing.

When the cous cous is done, pour over the veg. You may have to scrape some of the cous cous off the bottom of the pot - it should be carmelized, not burnt. If burnt, leave it in the pot.

Then pour the dressing over the salad and mix all to combine. This is so good when it's warm, and cold too!

With the leftovers, I like to mix in a can of drained white albacore tuna for a protein packed lunch. You can also heat the cous cous salad back up and sprinkle on top of a green salad.

Add whatever veggies you would like. Some golden raisins would be good in place of the mandarin oranges. But, you do want something a little sweet to cut through the onion flavor.