Sunday, April 13, 2008

Orange Couscous Salad

I just spent the weekend in Michigan, and my healthy-eating friend Jen introduced me to Cottage Living magazine (a great new source for decorating inspiration), and therefore this healthy and really tasty recipe. I substituted Quinoa instead of couscous (PS - does anyone have any info on quinoa? As far as I can tell it's a low-carb, protein-packed grain, but it tasted so good I'm afraid I'm fooling myself), and added pine nuts and shaved zucchini to the recipe. Yum!

Ingredients

(10-ounce) box plain couscous (I used 1 cup uncooked quinoa, and followed the directions on the package) 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste 
teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste 
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup) 
oranges 
tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 
tablespoons chopped fresh mint 
cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped (about 1 cup) 
cup golden raisins, currants, or chopped dates 

Preparation

1. Pour couscous into a large bowl, and stir in 1 cup boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap, and let steam 5 minutes or until couscous is tender. Fluff with a fork, and stir in oil and next 3 ingredients. Let cool slightly.

2. Zest both oranges; juice one. Peel second orange, and chop. Add zest, juice, and chopped orange to couscous mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill 1 hour or up to 2 days. Add more oil, salt, or pepper if desired before serving.

Yield

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Kim SunĂ©e , Cottage Living, JANUARY 2008

1 comment:

natalie v said...

Marcy, I love Quinoa. Go to my blog, i think way back there is a slightly Moroccan dish that Andrea gave me. Delish. The beauty of quinoa is that it is glutin free. so a very healthy grain. Always a plus. and, i am sure you know this, but if you havent bought it before, ask for KEENWAH. that's how you pronouce it. you can get it from fairway, bell-bates, down near me. and there is that food collective near you. I am sure they will sell it. I used to shop there, but maybe a bit too crunchy granola for me.
its good because, like cous cous, it's bland tasting on its own, so you just adds lots of yummy stuff to it to give it flavor. I'm looking forward to trying Faro. I'm sure it's similar.
nx