Israeli Couscous (2)

It's been almost two years since I shared my first Israeli couscous recipe. And two years ago, my family used to eat Israeli couscous constantly but recently, we've been on more of a rice pilaf kick. Well, we had a family friend over for dinner a couple weeks ago and decided to whip up a Greek souvlaki feast and thought that a Greek-ified (re: adding spinach and feta) couscous salad would be a great side dish.

I'm sharing a new way of cooking the couscous with a little less liquid. I used to just follow the package directions but using less liquid yields a less starchy result, if that makes any sense.

Ingredients [yields 2 to 3 cups of couscous]:
1½ cups pearl couscous
1 cup vegetable stock
1 teaspoon olive oil
+ dressing and vegetables - whatever you like - in this case, I used spinach, feta, baby tomatoes, olive oil, minced onion, baby bell peppers, lemon juice, salt, and pepper

Start by heating up a little olive oil in a saucepan and add in the couscous.

Stir the couscous in the olive oil and let it toast for a few minutes until you see a few of the pearls start to turn golden brown. Add in the stock and lower the heat so that the stock is simmering, not boiling.

Place the lid on the pot and leave alone for 10 to 12 minutes or until the stock is absorbed into the couscous.

This is what it should look like when it's done. You can dress it however you like. Here are a few suggestions:

• caprese themed - fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and lots of extra virgin olive oil or you could use basil pesto or sundried tomato pesto
• Italian salad themed - escarole, parmesan cheese, chopped pepperoncini peppers, olives, red onion, and Italian dressing
• cobb salad themed - bacon bits, chopped hard boiled eggs, avocado, shredded romaine, tomatoes, blue cheese, red wine vinegar, and olive oil
• Mexican themed - black beans, chopped cilantro, garlic, shredded cheddar, and salsa
• Mediterranean themed - chickpeas, cucumbers, grilled eggplant, tomatoes, black olives, parsley, roasted bell peppers, yogurt, and olive oil
• honey mustard chicken themed - grilled chicken pieces, shredded iceberg, tomatoes, bell peppers, and honey mustard dressing
• Thanksgiving themed - pieces of roast turkey, dried cranberries, sauteed mushrooms, peas, roasted brussels sprouts, roasted squash, chicken stock

Be creative!

This time I decided to go Greek, as I mentioned above. So, I used chopped parsley, spinach, minced onions, diced tomatoes, baby bell peppers, and lots of feta and lemon juice and olive oil and sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Here's the recipe page for JUST the couscous; I figured everything else is pretty self-explanatory (re: mix ingredients into the couscous, done):