Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

from Cottage Life’s Summer Weekend Cookbook

What it said:

 

1 ½ cups chicken stock

¼ cup lemon juice

2 T olive oil

4 green onions, finely chopped

½ cups raisins

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

½ cup parsley, finely chopped

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Vinaigrette:

½ cup Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette-combine all ingredients and whisk in oil

¼ t salt

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ t cumin

½ t dried oregano

pinch cayenne

2 T fresh lemon juice

6 T olive oil

Place the couscous in a large bowl and cover with the hot stock. When all the liquid is absorbed (about 5 min), fluff the grains with a fork and liven the flavor with lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with the remaining ingredients and the Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette.

Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning, add additional lemon juice or a splash of oil as necessary before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings.

What I did:

I followed the recipe pretty well, but had to make some changes based on what I had in my kitchen. First, I used garlic powder and it worked out just fine. Instead of stock, I used reduced sodium chicken broth. I have also added dried cranberries several times which was super tasty. I could not find cayenne pepper ANYWHERE where I live, so I used a pinch of chili powder once in the vinaigrette. It did the trick!

You do not have to buy the almonds toasted (though the ones that were toasted and came with the cranberries--some sort of salad topper bag--were tasty) since toasting them is so easy. I usually make an aluminum foil "boat" for my slivered almonds. I put them in a preheated oven (350F) for a few minutes until they are how I like them. It is important to keep an eye on them so that you do not end up with burned almonds. Check on them every few minutes and you should be fine.

One of these days I want to try the vinaigrette on a romaine salad with some nuts and fruit on it. The dressing itself smelled so refreshing!