Summer Couscous Salad

I have been making a lot of salads lately. Here's a delightful and refreshing one I made recently to add to my collection of salad recipes. The lime juice adds a nice zing and a hint of freshness to the couscous.

Ingredients:
(for 2 large servings)
3 cups cooked couscous
1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 cup of cooked black beans (I used half a can of beans after draining and rinsing)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
2-3 scallions, chopped
4-5 chives, minced

For the dressing:
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 3 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet. I used Near East's Toasted Pine Nut flavored couscous. Fluff it up with a fork after cooking and let it cool.

Throw the couscous along with the rest of the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
Add all the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chives before serving.

Couscous Salad

It was almost dinner time and I had not made a thing. We were starving but did not want to eat the leftovers from the day before, again! That's being saved in the freezer for another day. ;-)

Rummaging through my kitchen cupboards, I came across a packet of couscous that I'd bought a while ago, obviously after seeing something that had interested me on one of the blogs. I never got around to making whatever it was, and finally just decided to use it in a salad. I used whatever vegetables I had on hand. I do not have any measurements for this one as I just eyeballed the ingredients, as I do for most salads, and just kept going till it tasted right.

Here’s what I used-
Ingredients:
Couscous
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Cucumber, peeled & diced
Radishes, sliced thinly
Chives, snipped

For the dressing:
Red wine vinegar
Honey
Olive oil
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Salt & Pepper

For topping the salad:
Toasted walnuts
Parmesan cheese, grated

Method:
Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the package. As a rule, a 1/3 cup of dry couscous will give you one cup of cooked couscous. Cool slightly and fluff with a fork.

Add the chopped vegetables and mix everything.

Whisk together the vinegar, honey, lemon juice and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the couscous and mix well. Top with toasted walnuts and grated cheese.

Serve warm or cold. It tastes better after being refrigerated for an hour or so.
However, we could not wait another minute to eat it.