Cous Cous Salad

Here is another delicious recipe from the last Macrobiotic cooking class and one of my favorite warm weather salads. It takes so little time to make that you will have no choice but to include this as a staple in your weekly menu planning. I love the complexity of sweet and sour flavors with the pungent bite of scallion and the cool crisp crunch of fresh cucumber.

Feel free to use your favorite vegetables in this salad, but replacing the tiny currents with raisins may be to much. On the other hand, dried cranberries would make a tart replacement and may as well throw in a few toasted pine nuts while you're at it.

Cous Cous Salad                                                                              
Serves 6

2 cups organic couscous
2 cups water
1/3 cup currents
1 cup carrot, grated
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
3 green onions, diced

Lemon Dressing
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Ume Plum vinegar or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon sweetener of choice (I use a pinch of stevia powder)
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add the couscous and stir. Cover and turn the flame off.
2. Allow the couscous to steam for 5 minutes. Remove and fluff with a fork to cool.
3. Add the currents while still warm and the other vegetables once cous cous has cooled.                         
4. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss with the cous cous. Let sit for 10 minutes to better absorb the flavors.

Spring Salad: Quinoa Tabouli

Spring time brings out my love for grain salads and what better than to tweek the traditional tabouli recipe and exchange cous cous with quinoa. I also added some cilantro along with the parsley and a few other spring vegetables I had in the fridge. Hope you enjoy!

QUINOA TABOULI           

3 cups cooked quinoa

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced

3 green onion, sliced thin on diagonal

¼ cup cilantro. minced

½ cup parsley, minced

4 asparagus, grilled, chopped (optional)

¼ cup diced fennel bulb (optional)

Dressing

¼ cup fresh lime juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Ume Plum vinegar

pinch of stevia powder

Combine the quinoa, cucumber, onion, cilantro, parsley, asparagus, and fennel in a medium bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the quinoa mixture stirring to combine. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.

Great in a wrap with hummus or topping fresh greens for the perfect salad.