The best meals seem to come about by happenstance around here. A major part of the appeal of these meals is not merely their tastes and textures, but their simplicity and the unexpected/unplanned nature. Kind of like that kind of day where you start with a bike ride to the grocery store in the morning, but then you get a phone call from a friend who wants to have brunch. You mention you’re at the store, so why don’t you just come over and make breakfast. And then after breakfast, you and the friend decide to take a walk to check out some garage sales and end up running into another friend who says she’s planning on going to the beach in an hour and why don’t you two join her. She’s packing a picnic basket and a frisbee, so just bring your bathing suit and a towel. You look at each other and think, Sure, why not? The day continues on like this, with unexpected meet ups and adventures. By the evening, you look back over the past 12 or so hours and think, This day was awesome! It’s the kind of day that starts out with an errand, but ends up being a simple, unplanned and totally enjoyable day.
That’s how this salad went for me. It was simple, wholesome and really satisfying and totally unplanned. I made up some whole wheat couscous this morning for Andrew to take with his lunch. I love how fast couscous is. He had made some peanut sauce and packed the broccoli I’d steamed, but didn’t have time to make rice–brown or white. I saved about a half a cup for myself and stuck in the fridge.
Later, after an errand out to the library and the drug store, I came back ready for lunch. I opened the fridge and three items called out to me: the couscous, a jar of slow-roasted tomatoes and a jar of fire roasted sweet red peppers marinating in olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. I also found some fresh basil needing to be used today. I sliced up the peppers, tore some basil and tossed them with the tomatoes, couscous and a pinch of salt.
It’s pretty humid and warm out today, so this salad was a quick and refreshing little mid-day meal. It’s full of roasty, tangy and fresh clean flavors. I still have more tomatoes and peppers in the fridge and plenty of leaves on my little globe basil plant, so I’m planning on having a second round of this meal tomorrow for lunch.
While I didn’t have these ingredients on hand, I imagine some toasted pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese would take this to another delicious level.
Summer Couscous Salad
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous, prepared and chilled
1/2 cup slow-roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup slices of marinated fire-roasted sweet red peppers (instructions below)
1-2 T chopped fresh basil
pinch of salt
Roast the red peppers over a low, open flame on your stove top until they are blackened on all sides. Place in a dish and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for at least 10 minutes. This will steam the peppers and make peeling them easier. Supposedly. I never find them all that easy to peel and just end up rubbing off all the charred stuff under running water. Then I pat them dry, remove the seeds and the stem and slice. Place the peppers into a bowl or a mason jar and add a couple of glugs of olive oil. Splash in some white balsamic vinegar and shake the jar gently (or stir if using a bowl) to make sure all the peppers get coated. Refrigerate.
Add all of the salad ingredients except salt to a dish and toss to combine. Season to taste. You can add some of the marinade from the peppers if you’d like or just splash in more olive oil and vinegar.
this was very good- i ate a close approximation for lunch today.