Israeli Couscous Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Couscous:
1.5 cups Israeli couscous
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cups water
Dressing:
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 garlic clove
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Salad:
6 oz cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber
3 bell peppers (I used one each of red, yellow and orange)
20 Kalamata olives
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
Directions
Dressing:
Chop parsley and chop or mince garlic.
Add all dressing ingredients to a bowl or jar and whisk together. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Place in refrigerator.
Couscous:
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add couscous and stir continuously until slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add 1¾ cups boiling water. Cover, reduce to low heat, and cook 10 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and leave covered 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Salad:
Chop peppers, cucumber, olives and parsley.
Over medium low heat, toast pine nuts in an ungreased pan. Stir continuously, they can burn very quickly. Once there is a little brown color on most sides, remove from heat. About 1-2 minutes.
Add couscous and all salad ingredients into a large bowl. Pour dressing on top and toss well.
Ideally, this salad should be cooled in the refrigerator for at least one hour prior to serving.
