My oh my I love this Summer Couscous Salad! It meets all the requirements for a summer side dish, it’s delicious, colorful, uses seasonal vegetables and herbs and it’s easy (as in 15 minutes easy!)
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Summer Couscous Salad and fork on gray plate set atop a wood cutting board

What’s in The Summer Couscous Salad?

Well let’s start with Moroccan Couscous! There are so many great things about couscous…it’s pretty, goes with just about anything, it’s somewhat underused (so it impresses people) but best of all it’s virtually no fail. Simply bring water to a boil, then add the couscous, cover and take off heat. No risk of over or undercooking! Then you toss in some tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh herbs, perhaps some pine nuts or pistachios and drizzle with a lemon and olive oil dressing and you’re done. Yup, that’s it. And look how lovely it is!

 

Summer Couscous Salad garnished with parsley on gray plate with fork

Wondering What to Serve It With? 

It’s pretty great all by itself if you want to keep your meal light and vegetarian/vegan. But if you’re serving it as a side dish, I will suggest serving it alongside my perfect steak or with my hummus and pita….or even better, both!

Summer Couscous Salad with tomatoes and cucumbers on gray plate with fork

 

 

The Recipe: Summer Couscous Salad

What you need: As always you need a good knife. I love this brand of Moroccan Couscous and this pot.

Print
Summer Couscous Salad
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 

A salad that cooks up in fifteen minutes and tastes great alone or as a side dish for any protein.

Course: Salad, Side Dish
Keyword: couscous salad, moroccan couscous
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For Salad:
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups Moroccan Couscous (see my favorite brand linked above)
  • 1/2 teaspoon good quality sea salt or kosher salt
  • 2 roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1 Persian cucumber, diced (or half a regular cucumber peeled and diced)
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup roasted salted pistachios, toasted pine nuts or almond slices
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
For Lemon Dressing:
  • 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
  • zest of one small lemon
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions

  1. Bring water to boil in medium sized pot. Immediately turn off heat and add couscous. Cover with lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

  2. While couscous cooks, prep all vegetables and herbs, set aside.

  3. Whisk together all salad dressing ingredients. Set aside.

  4. Remove lid from couscous and use a fork to "fluff". Pour couscous into a large bowl and allow to cool for ten minutes (tossing occasionally to prevent clumping). Add tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and nuts, fluff again.

  5. Dress with desired amount of salad dressing, toss and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if needed.

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