This Mediterranean Couscous Salad is easy to make and so refreshing for summer. It's filled with vegetables, Feta cheese, olives and a delicious vinaigrette dressing - great as a side dish for outdoor grilling!
1large yellow bell pepperfinely diced (about ¼ inch)
1small-medium red onionfinely chopped (about ⅛ inch)
1(15-oz) can chickpeasdrained and rinsed
½cuppitted kalamata olivesroughly chopped; or your preferred olive type
½cupchopped fresh herbsI used oregano, parsley and mint - use your favorites
½cupcrumbled Feta cheese
Instructions
Cook couscous: Bring water, olive oil and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add couscous, stir, and cover with a lid. Turn off the heat and set aside for 5 minutes.
Make dressing: While couscous is resting, combine all dressing ingredients in a medium measuring jug. Set aside until ready to use.
Finish couscous: Open lid, add butter and fluff couscous with a fork; distributing butter throughout.
Assemble salad: Add couscous to a large salad bowl, with all salad ingredients. Pour dressing evenly over salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to a day.
Notes
Vegetable size: I prefer using cherry tomatoes and small cucumbers for this recipe, because they generally release less water into the dressing. If you're using a large cucumber/large tomatoes instead, cut away the seeded part and drain them well.Make it your own: You can really customize this salad to suit your taste/what you have on hand. Roasted red peppers are a really tasty addition, artichoke hearts if you’re into those, oven-roasted zucchini, white beans… So many options to add your own twist on this!Salad amount: We are an extended family of 7, so this makes a large bowl of salad. You can easily cut the recipe in half if you need less.