When I was in the mood for something fall-inspired, I cooked this dish. I made my own recipes after attempting others that just didn’t have that comforting pumpkin-pie flavor. It yields six giant muffins or around 24 large muffins, or a loaf. You might wish to decrease the recipe for single people or small families even though they keep well in the refrigerator. They would make excellent cupcakes if cream cheese frosting were added.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup Israeli couscous, uncooked
- 1 ¼ cups chicken stock
- 2 medium Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup quartered black olives
- ¼ cup sliced scallions
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ¼ cup julienned fresh mint leaves
- ¼ cup julienned fresh basil leaves
- 1 medium lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start the salad: Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic; cook until soft and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add couscous and sauté until slightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in chicken stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until couscous is tender and all liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 45 minutes.
- While the couscous is cooling, make the dressing: Whisk lemon zest and juice, oil, Dijon, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.
- Finish the salad: Transfer cooled couscous to a serving bowl. Add cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes, olives, scallions, parsley, mint, and basil. Pour dressing over top and mix until all ingredients are coated.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 342 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 46 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 636 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was AMAZING and a big hit at our recent family reunion. I used Kalamata olives and added feta. Otherwise I made it exactly as written. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks Natalie! P.S. The Persian cucumbers at my store were labeled as “Mini Cucumbers.” They’re delicious just on their own, and convenient since they don’t need to be peeled.
This was great although I had to make several substitutions. Two cucumbers seemed like a lot and mine were huge, so I only used half of one. Not a fan of olives so did not use. Used dried mint instead of fresh and fresh dill instead of basil because that was all I had. Also threw in some feta cheese. I typically don’t make this many changes but the recipe seems very adaptable. Try it with fresh dill, it’s fantastic!
Oh my goodness! Amazing! I uses kalamata olives. Delicious!
This recipe is amazing even without the fresh herbs! I was hoping to have leftovers, but all of it was eaten!
I really loved this salad. I didn’t add the mint but other than that made it exactly as written. Usually a salad tastes better after a day, but I preferred the taste of this right after I made it rather than the next day. It was still good but not quite as zingy. I probably could have added a little more lemon.
Excellent. Great blend of flavors. I added some mushrooms and so healthy too.
I made it tonight, was a hit without chicken broth or Fresh spinach and due to my lack of fresh basil used dried … we all enjoyed it and will next time add feta and perhaps sautéed chicken for a summer meal!
This salad was full of flavor and looked beautiful on the plate. Everyone in the family loved it from the 8 year old on up. It is a delicious way to incorporate many of the herbs from our garden.