Garden Bounty Israeli Couscous Salad

I love Israeli couscous, the texture is so much fun! I couldn’t wait to mix in the veggies from my garden to create a salad.

I went a little overboard though. I had just harvested some carrots and decided to include those as well.

But they were just a bit too crunchy, the texture did not complement the rest of the salad. I thought the crunch would be good, but it was not so pleasant. So, I have not included the carrots in the final recipe.

What I did add that were positives, were the corn and the feta. Oh, those were good!

Lesson learned – play with your salads. Some things will work, some won’t, but you won’t know till you try.

Garden Bounty Israeli Couscous Salad

Adapted from Margaret Rose Shulman’s Cucumber and Israeli Couscous Salad

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil1 cup Israeli couscous6 to 8 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste

1/2 cups chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (from the garden)

½ pound ripe tomatoes, very finely chopped (from the garden)

¾ pound cucumbers, seeded and cut in fine dice (from the garden)

1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

kernels from 2 ears of steamed corn (from Ficner Farms)

Salt to taste

3 oz crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan and add the couscous. Stir until the couscous begins to color and smell toasty, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups water and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until the couscous is tender. Drain if any liquid remains in the pan.

Mix together all the vegetable in a large bowl.

Transfer the couscous to the bowl and toss with the lemon juice, parsley and salt to taste. Add the olive oil, toss together, taste and adjust seasonings.

Add the feta cheese and toss. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 6 – 8 as a side salad.