A DeLIGHTful Cous Cous Salad

This recipe is courtesy of my Mom, and it has been a favorite of mine for several years.  It’s perfect as a side dish for a Summer mixed grill, and it is the perfect dish for a potluck because it is served at room temperature and feeds an army.  We recently enjoyed it (and plenty of leftovers) at our Easter feast.  Best of all, it is INSANELY easy to make.

Typically she makes it with pistachios, but with the whole salmonella scare going on right now, she chose to substitute pine nuts.  I’m usually not a pine nut fan, but the result was really nice.  You could use roughly chopped walnuts or slivered almonds.  I plan on making this over the weekend, and I’ll be using whole grain cous cous to make it a little more diet friendly.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened, go for all natural, ‘craisins’ would not be your best bet here)
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 Tablespoons butter (don’t worry, this yields like a billion servings)
1 cup uncooked cous cous, whole wheat or semolina will work
1/2 chopped scallions (the white and the green parts)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Dressing:

3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

In a small bowl, soak the dried cranberries with hot tap water until they bloom, about 15 minutes. Heat the chicken stock and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once just boiling, add in the cous cous and stir a few times. Cover with a tight fitting lid and remove the saucepan from the heat. Let stand covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and break up any clumps with a fork. Drain the cranberries and add to the bowl along with the scallions, parsley and pistachios.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the cous cous mixture. Stir thoroughly and serve!

Adapted from Bon Appetite, September 1995

Tagged as: cooking