comment icon 134 more comments You’re looking at a beautiful, colorful, confetti-like bowl full of:
Couscous Sweet potatoes Black beans – but any kind of beans are great! Spinach Feta Red Onion Pistachios – because I love them! but any nuts / seeds, or no nuts / seeds also work Lime basil vinaigrette
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Couscous Salad:
Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
You think it might lean Mexican-inspired with the sweet potato black bean thing…. but then there’s feta and red onion… and some pistachios… and the lime basil vinaigrette is where things get pretty solidly quirky. It’s so good, so nutritious (!!), and so nostalgic. I used to make this salad all the time way back in the day, featuring a bottle of pre-made dressing, because that’s what my trusty five ingredient Cooking Light cookbook recommended. I was youthful and new to cooking and I loved easy recipes (still true, actually). Now I’m less youthful, more opinionated about things like making your own dressing, and ready for the still-easy but slightly more grown up version of this salad. You still with me? Our dressing here is a punchy lime basil vinaigrette. Which is kind of a lot going on flavor-wise because lime and basil are both big flavors. But big flavors get two thumbs up from me. You have alternate dressing options if you’d like to stay closer to home on this: cilantro lime vinaigrette (use this same method but swap basil for cilantro). lemon vinaigrette (look here). Or… you can trust me and plow forward fearlessly into the land of basil-heavy summery tasting green dressing. Take a taste – do you need more of something? Salt? Oil? Lime? Basil? Tweak it till you get it just right and do not panic if it’s very very flavorful. This is going to soak in with a bunch of otherwise plain veggies so we need it to be BOSSY. Get all your stuff in a bowl, toss with dressing, salt and pepper, and muah. It’s summery, a little bit unexpected, and the best way to make lunch / veggies / nutrition / happiness all work together. If you’re hungry for more veggies (YUM) you’ll want to also add these recipes to your veggie rotation.
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of magical black bean recipes. Check it out! 4.9 from 68 reviews
3/4 cup couscous 1 cup water 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3 cups) one 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed 2 cups baby spinach, cut into small pieces 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese half a red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 cup chopped pistachios (optional) black pepper to taste
Lime Basil Vinaigrette
1 bunch of fresh basil (1/2 cup packed) 1/2 cup olive oil juice of 1–2 limes (to taste) 1 clove garlic 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, if needed
