When I was food prepping last week, I noticed I had the perfect ingredients for a Mediterranean couscous salad. I also realized I had a lot of zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes I needed to use before they went bad. In fact, I hate throwing any food away.
Although couscous is believed to be pasta, it is actually small steamed balls of crushed durum wheat semolina. A light and beautiful base for any salad, couscous absorbs the flavors of spices of any dressing. Of course, I made an oil-free red wine lemon vinegarette.
MEDITERRANEAN COUSCOUS SALAD IN 15 MINUTES
Not only is couscous a wonderful base for any salad, it literally takes 5 minutes to cook with little to no effort. That, with chopping a few vegetables, and dinner is ready.
For this Mediterranean couscous salad, all you need is the following ingredients:
- Couscous
- Zucchini
- Summer Squash
- Red Bell Pepper
- Red Onion
- Tri-Colored Grape Tomatoes
- Chickpeas
- Kalamata Olives
- Fresh Parsley
OTHER POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTIONS TO CONSIDER:
- White or Yellow Onion
- Cucumber
- Orange, Green, or Yellow Bell Pepper
- Mint
- Quinoa instead of Couscous
Even though this salad is made with couscous in mind, remember quinoa or another grain of choice can be used instead.
Also, a time-saving tip is to use a vegetable chopper to quickly dice your vegetables, while keeping them all uniform size.
HOW TO COOK COUSCOUS IN 5 MINUTES
In order to make the perfect couscous, all you need is 2 parts water to 1 part couscous. Simply boil 2 ½ cups of water with a teaspoon of salt. Then, quickly add 1 ¼ cups couscous, stir, remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes.
In other words, making couscous literally takes 5 minutes from start to finish. When the couscous is done cooking, just fluff with a fork and let cool.
Once all the veggies are cut and the couscous is room temperature, it's time to toss the Meditteranean couscous salad.
MAKING THE OIL-FREE RED WINE VINAIGRETTE
The dressing, though simple, is lemony and perfect for the combination of ingredients.
All you need is:
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Garlic
- Hummus (oil-free)
- Italian Seasoning Blend
- Water
And, it simply gets whisked together and dressed before serving. A little dressing, for instance, goes a long way.
So, if you are looking for a quick and easy dinner or a great meal prep lunch idea, look no further.
Or, serve the Mediterranean couscous salad as a side dish with these wonderful entrees:
- Skinny Vegan Greek Spinach Pie
- Vegan Lasagna
- Skinny Detox Lentil Vegetable Soup
- Skinny Oil-Free Pizza Sauce and Pizza Dough
- Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
- Vegan Stuffed Shells Recipe
- Chickpea Soup
- Skinny Greek Wrap Sandwich
- Vegetable Panini w/ Vegan Pesto Artichoke
📖 Recipe
Mediterranean Couscous Salad
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 zucchini diced
- 1 yellow summer squash diced
- 1 red onion diced
- 1 cup sliced tri-colored grape tomatoes
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup parsley chopped
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup kalamata olives
Couscous
- 1 ¼ cup couscous
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Dressing
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons hummus I used oil-free
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
COOKING THE COUSCOUS
- In a medium-sized saucepan, boil 2 ½ cups water with 1 teaspoon salt.
- Add 1 ¼ cups couscous quickly and stir.
- Cover and remove from heat
- Let sit for 5 minutes
- Fluff with a fork and allow to cool
VEGETABLES
- When couscous is cool, add all ingredients to a bowl and toss (except for the dressing)
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
DRESSING
- Combine all ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk together.
- Refrigerate dressing until ready to use
- Drizzle on salad when ready to serve
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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