I love making my Summer Couscous Salad. It’s loaded with my favorite veggies, is easy to make, a feeds a crowd. I’ve made it so many times in the last few years for parties, school functions, and BBQs, and it’s always a big hit.
That being said, I also love to try new recipes. I pinned this recipe a while back. It’s the same premise as my Summer Couscous Salad, but is packed with a different variety of veggies and has a different vinaigrette.
I changed up the original recipe a bit. I used a flavored couscous and added some of my favorite Mediterranean ingredients (like cucumbers and feta). (If you need to make this vegan, just omit the feta.) I also increased the amount of fresh herbs and reduced the amount of lemon juice. I’ve made this couscous salad twice now, both times for big crowds. It has gotten a lot of positive feedback. I’ve gotten a lot of requests for the recipe, so here it is! (I doubled the recipe since I was feeding such a large crowd, so the pictures are deceiving. You won’t need as much if you are just making one batch. Also, my camera died just as I was about to take the first picture, so I had to use my iPhone. I apologize for the photo quality!)
Start with the couscous…
- Cook 1 box of Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil flavored couscous according to the instructions on the box.
- Fluff the couscous with a fork.
- Place the fluffed couscous in the bottom of a large bowl.
- Halve a pint of grape tomatoes and chop up about a cup each of marinated artichokes and pitted kalamata olives.
- Dice up ¾ of a large English cucumber.
- Add the veggies to the couscous.
- Chiffonade a good amount of fresh basil.
- Add the basil to the bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle in about ½ cup crumbled feta.
- Pour ½ cup EVOO into a measuring cup.
- Mince up 3 cloves of garlic.
- Add the garlic to the EVOO.
- Mince up some more fresh basil along with some fresh oregano.
- Add the herbs to the EVOO.
- Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. (My lemon was super juicy. If yours isn’t, you may want to use another.)
- Whisk to combine all of the ingredients in the dressing.
- Pour the dressing over the couscous salad.
- Mix well.
Season the salad with some coarse kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste. You can serve right away or refrigerate overnight (like I did). The leftovers of this salad are equally delicious! Enjoy!
One Year Ago: Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Mediterranean Couscous Salad (serves 8-10)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 box Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil flavored couscous
- 1¼ cups water
- ½ cup plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- ¾ of a large English cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 1 cup marinated artichokes, roughly chopped
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh basil, divided
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- juice from 1 lemon
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
- coarse kosher salt
- ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
- Combine the water, couscous seasoning packet, and 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a boil.
- Pour in the couscous.
- Stir, cover, and remove from the heat.
- Let sit for about 5 minutes, until all of the liquid is absorbed.
- Fluff the couscous with a fork and place in a large bowl.
- Add the cucumber, olives, artichokes, and tomatoes to the bowl.
- Chiffonade the ½ cup of basil.
- Add the basil to the bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle in the feta.
- Combine the remaining ½ cup of olive oil with the juice from the lemon.
- Add the minced garlic.
- Mince the remaining basil and the oregano.
- Add it the the dressing.
- Season the dressing with each of salt and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the salad.
- Toss to combine.
- Season with more salt and pepper, to taste.
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