Couscous and White Bean Salad

When shabbat comes, I like making a variety of salads. I love looking at the assorted colors on my table. It’s just pretty, and it tastes good too. I had the chance to get to the vegetable market during the day this week. It’s a rare opportunity. With the crazy weather around the world, the vegetables and pricing have been all over the place. Green peppers are $2/lb, while the usually expensive colorful peppers are now .99/lb. My favorite veggies were all pretty cheap this week. Love when that happens.

One of the salads we enjoyed with this past shabbat lunch was a couscous and white bean salad. It’s an easy salad to make. I prepare the couscous on Friday before shabbat starts and then add the rest of the ingredients Saturday morning when everybody is in shul. Like all of my dishes, it can be tweaked. Use the veggies that make the most sense to you.

Couscous and White Bean Salad
Ingredients:
1.5 cups whole wheat couscous
1.75 cups boiling water
2 tsp. olive oil 1 can of white beans, drained
1/2 cup orange pepper, chopped
1/2 cup yellow pepper, chopped
3/4 cup seedless cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 shallot, minced

Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
3 cloves of garlic, mashed
2 tsp. honey
a couple of squeezes of fresh lemon juice
salt
fresh ground pepper

In a bowl, pour the boiling water over the couscous and cover for 5-8 minutes. Uncover the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Sprinkle in the two teaspoons of the olive oil.

Mix in the various chopped veggies.

In a separate bowl, whisk up the dressing ingredients. Mix the dressing into the salad and let the salad sit for about an hour before serving. Enjoy!