Unlike the popular belief that Couscous is a grain, it is actually a type of Pasta prepared from Semolina & whole wheat flour. The flour is then moistened, tossed together until small balls are formed. Couscous don’t take much time to get cooked. I absolutely love making Upma, fried rice type recipes using Couscous. Once I even made Kesari from Couscous and it tasted amazing 😋😬😬 I miss our traditional millets and the texture of Couscous reminds me that.
I have made Couscous Salad before with Tofu and this one is a slight twist to the regular Mediterranean flavors. Made a fresh batch of Basil Pesto yesterday and thought of using it as a dressing for this salad. Very easy to put together but has a good mix of Carbs, Proteins,Fibre & Fat.
My Day 5 dinner bowl had Couscous, fresh veggies, kidney beans & pesto
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 6-8 Pecans you can use walnuts if you want
- 5 Almonds
- 2 Pods Roasted Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Oil
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 slice cheddar cheese you can use Parmesan cheese instead. I only had Cheddar at home
- 1 cup couscous
- 2 cups Boiled Water
- 1 onion
- 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
- 1/2 cup Red Kidney Beans or any beans/legumes of your choice
- 1 cucumber
- 1/2 cup Salad leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice optional
Ingredients
Basil Pesto
Couscous Salad
|
|
- Wash and clean Basil leaves
- Heat half teaspoon of oil in a pan. Remove skin and dry roast garlic pods until they turn golden brown in color
- In a mixie jar add basil leaves, nuts, garlic,salt,black pepper powder and olive oil
- Grind for a minute. Later mix the cheese slices and lemon juice
- Grind it a smooth paste. If you want a coarse paste you can grind it for less than a minute until preferred consistency is achieved
- Adjust salt and delicious Pesto is ready now. You can add this to Pasta, use it as a dip to snack, spread it on toast too
- Wash and clean Cousocus
- Boil 2 cups of water in a kettle or boil in a vessel
- Add 2 cups of Boiling water to Couscous and close the bowl with a plate
- Leave it for 5 minutes and you can see the Couscous all fluffed up
- Transfer it to a sieve and let the extra water get drained
- In the meantime chop all the veggies finely
- Take a bowl add Couscous, chopped veggies, salad leaves, freshly made Basil Pesto, Red Kidney Beans
- Drizzle Olive oil and a pinch of salt. Since we didn't add salt while cooking Couscous and for other raw veggies this final drizzle of oil & salt will help in bringing the salad together.
- Healthy, filling salad is ready in less than 30 minutes
