Recently I hosted a lunch meeting with several engineers and our cafeteria brought up a fantastic Israeli couscous salad – it was so good I had to reverse engineer it!
Israeli couscous (also known as pearl couscous), a larger cousin of the finer Arabian couscous, is more like a tiny pasta. So it is great for cold salads.
I also include below a side-dish recipe I prepared for my busy sister in law, Babette. I combined all the dry ingredients into a small zip-lock bag so she only had to add it to some boiling water, stir, cover and get back to work. Makes for a great gift.
Israeli Couscous Primavera2 cups Israeli couscous10 oz. white button mushrooms quartered
4-inches English cucumber diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and halved
12 grape tomatoes, halved
1 clove garlic, pressed
½ cup vinaigrette (or Italian) dressing (see below)
Cook couscous in boiling salted water for about 8-10 minutes or until just tender. Drain well. Mix with remaining ingredients and chill. Sprinkle with parsley or chives. Makes a large bowl – enough for about 8 as a side dish.
Vinaigrette Dressing
¼ cup cider or red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 clove garlic minced, or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 rounded Tbsp Dijon mustard
¾ cup canola or olive oil, or a mix of the two
Whisk together the first five ingredients until the salt dissolves. Whisk in the remaining ingredients.
Israeli Couscous and Orzo Pilaf
¾ cup Israeli couscous
¼ cup tricolor orzo
1 Tbsp. whole grain red quinoa
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp. turmeric
2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Bring broth to boil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 10 minutes. Serves four.
Can make a great make-ahead mix. Whole grain red quinoa is available in whole food stores.
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