I love (LOVE) Israeli cous cous. Something about it is so flippin' good. On our trip to Seattle, I bought some from the bulk section of Whole Foods (because everyone knows we don't have one, but we are getting a Trader Joe's) for Sweet P and brought it home. I was craving cold pasta salad yesterday, so out came the cous cous. Here is what we had.
Cous Cous Pasta Salad
1 cup dry Israeli cous cous
1/2 small onion
1 cup broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 cup spinach (fresh or frozen)
10 black olives (chopped)
1 heaping tbsp garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp pesto (I use Classico)
2 mozzarella cheese sticks
Prepare cous cous in a rice cooker or in a pot on the stove. Bring 1.5 to 2 cups of water to a boil, add cous cous and cook 10 to 12 minutes until desired texture. Drain cous cous (there won't be a ton of water left), put in a large bowl and chill for 30 minutes. Saute garlic and onions in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add broccoli and spinach (our was fresh from the garden!). Remove from heat and add to chilled cous cous, mix in remaining olive oil and pesto. Chill for another 30 mins to an hour. When you are ready to eat, add olives and mozzarella.
So good. SO good. But I love cous cous so I may be biased. Israeli cous cous is more like pasta than a grain (like rice or quinoa) so it takes longer to prepare than traditional cous cous. This can be made a day ahead of time for a cold pasta or eaten right away if you want a warm pasta. To make it even healthier, eliminate the cheese and add less pesto and olive oil. But remember that good fats like olive oil are good for you!
I filed this under quick meals because the preparation is pretty quick. It's the waiting that's the long (and hard) part.
PS. Just so you know, I make healthy stuff every day, it just doesn't always make it into the blog.
