Israeli Couscous Salad
- Lunch
- Israel
- Toddler friendly
Ingredients
- 1 cup Israeli couscous (Moroccan couscous cannot be substituted)
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, divided
- 4 Tb olive oil, divided
- 2 cups dried cranberries (craisins)
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup spring onions, white parts only, chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1 oz cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1/2 lemon
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 1 Tb olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the couscous and stir about 1 minute, until lightly browned. Stir in 2 cups of the broth. Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low; simmer about 15 minutes, or until the couscous has absorbed most of the liquid and is al dente. Drain in a colander but do not rinse. (Alternate method: spread the hot couscous on a cookie tray in a thin layer for about 15-20 minutes to cool it quickly if it's a little too creamy.) Once cooled, stir in the remaining 3 Tb olive oil to coat and separate the grains, using a wooden spoon to gently break up the grains in a serving bowl. Combine the couscous with the craisins, pine nuts, spring onions, red onion, cilantro, lemon zest, and shallot. Spritz with lemon juice and adjust seasoning with sea salt to taste.
Note
This can be a very seasonal dish -- dice additional fresh vegetables (butternut squash in the fall, zucchini in the summer) and toss in. You can also boil the couscous in plain water instead of broth, but broth gives it an extra boost of flavor. This is a different, cold cranberry-and-pine-nut version from the existing Israeli Couscous with Saffron, Toasted Pine Nuts & Currants recipe.