Israeli Couscous Salad

I love Israeli couscous and all the different salad variations you can create with it. Sometimes when I’m sick of eating salads with just lettuce for lunch at work, I made a large bowl of couscous salad and eat it for 2-3 days straight!

1 cup dry Israeli couscous
1 ¼ chicken broth (cooking pasta in broth gives more flavor)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
½ large red bell pepper, diced
½ large green bell pepper, diced
½ small red onion, minced
About 10 asparagus stalks cut into ½” pieces
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
Zest from one lemon
Juice from one lemon
Freshly cracked black pepper
Crumbled feta cheese

In a large pot, bring broth to a boil. Add couscous and 1 tsp of EVOO, cover and simmer for about 8 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooled couscous, veggies, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper and feta cheese. Drizzle with EVOO and mix altogether.

Note:

Let couscous cool before drizzling EVOO and lemon juice so it acts like more of a dressing. If it’s warm, the pasta absorbs the EVOO right away and the pasta will be dry.

Variations:

·         Try using sliced green onions instead of minced red onion.
·         Add slivered radishes
·         Use cubed Cheddar cheese instead of feta