You know those mornings when you:
wake up in a panic because you forgot to send an important email…
and wait! ย you only slept five hours! ย where did all of these zits come from!? ย like… seriously.
and the coffee line is surprisingly short, but you spill coffee on your shoes because you’re an absolute bonehead.
and technology is confusing.
but cookies are totally not confusing so you eat like, thirty of them.
and it would be awesome if you could just stay home and hide from things… but the world keeps on spinning… and you keep spilling things… and emails keep coming… and seriously with the text messages!?
You know those days?
when work feels suffocating. ย and it’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and you’re still trying to pull something out of your day. ย well… something besides cookies.
I had that day yesterday. ย I just couldn’t turn things right. ย It was like slow motion falling, all day long.
It’s ok. ย It really is. ย Some days are just funktown.
What turns around these days?
Buying your best friend cupcakes for her birthday. ย Yes. ย Buying!!! ย I already told you it was a rough day! ย Geez! ย Sometimes bakers buy cupcakes. ย That’s real life!
Buy cupcakes. ย Light candles. ย Pet a fluffy sweet dog named Willy. ย Sing Happy Birthday to Miss (dirty 30) Whitney.
Doing nice things for other people totally helps me out of a funky day funk. ย It feels good. ย Making other people happy is the best distraction there is! ย Truly.
Buy cupcakes if you have to. ย Eat cookies if things get weird. ย Do good things for other people. ย Also… try couscous for lunch. ย It’ll totally counteract all of the cookies you ate for breakfast, and the cupcakes you’re about to eat after pizzadinner. ย Pizzadinner is totally a word.
Israeli couscous is a toasted pasta shaped like little balls. ย It’s different from traditional couscous, in that it’s much larger, really holds it’s shape, and doesn’t clump together. ย Tiny pasta balls. ย Like tapioca, but more pasta-y.
I love to turn this couscous into a salad.
I had a theme this go-round. ย I wanted everything to be green.
Snap peas. ย Raw. ย Sliced. ย Crisp. ย Pretty.
Maybe you want to try asparagus? ย Go for it!!
Green onions and green parsley. ย I’m really into parsley.
Maybe you want to try basil and oregano? ย Heck yes!
Big chunks of cucumber too!
What? ย You want to use roasted zucchini!? ย Why didn’t I think of that?
And lemon. ย Lemon should go into everything.
I toss it all together with lemon juice and olive oil. ย Salt and coarse pepper for days.
Feta cheese too… because come on! ย Don’t be dumb.
I thought toasted pistachios were a nice touch too. ย They’re green. ย I love a theme.
Feel free to play around with the ingredients.
This is just a simple little ditty for a ditty of a day.
Green Israeli Couscous Salad
four small or two large servings
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups dry Israeli Couscous
generous pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups sliced snap peas
1 English cucumber, cut into chunks
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios
salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
about 3 tablespoons olive oil
about 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
In a medium saucepan, bring three cups of water to a boil. ย Add a generous pinch of salt, followed by Israeli couscous. ย Stir and reduce heat to a simmer. ย Simmer until couscous is just tender, with a slight bite, about 10 to 13 minutes.
Drain into a fine mesh strainer and rinse with cold water. ย Set aside.
Toss cooled couscous with the rest of the ingredients. ย Taste and add more salt and pepper as necessary.
Yea… it’s that easy! ย Cook couscous and toss it with veggies, herbs, cheese, lemon and olive oil.
137 Responses
I found the couscous (it was star-shaped!) and I made the salad last night. I loved it. My boyfriend also loved it. And we have enough to both take the rest to work for lunch today. Brilliant! Thanks Joy – you’re a star! xoxo
Nice! This looks like a large couscous grain.
My husband calls me a lemon demon, because you are right. Lemon should go in everything. I would marry lemon curd if it wouldn’t be illegal.
This is fantastic. I made this for a friend’s BBQ, replacing the Israeli couscous with quinoa because it’s what I had. It was a huge hit, and I received several requests for the recipe. Thanks for posting!
YUM. I have some Israeli couscous in my pantry that’s lookin’ lonesome. I can’t wait to try it with tons of raw veggies and herbs.
P.s. I listened to two of your podcasts on my drive to a chef knife skills class last night. Got a few good laughs in along the way!
well, as an Israeli, first of all that looks great!
and second of all, this “couscous” is called here in Hebrew ptitim
and I love ptitim.not like they make in the army.eww.the one my mom makes..boy i’d love some right now.lol.
have a happy happy day!
Joy you are a GENIUS!!! It’s so simple, and so awesome, and so pretty. I can’t wait to make it!
This sounds fabulous. I love “fat couscous” and am always looking for new ways with it. BTW it’s very good with lemon and chilli sauce!
We’ve found whole grain Israeli couscous in the local Syrian store. It’s perfect – much better than the puny stuff. What do we do with it? Mango couscous – I’ve got that recipe around here somewhere … look for it on my blog soon. The secret? A sneaky jalapeno.
just tried this out and it was delicious! trader joe’s has this great little mix called “harvest grain blend” that is mostly israeli couscous but also a little bit of dried chickpea, orzo, and red quinoa. all in all, it made for a deliciously light dinner.
Added dill, about 1/4 tsp. and it was even better! Love this salad!
Joy! this was so urgent I had to comment IMMEDIATELY!!! I just finished devouring half – yes HALF – of this couscous. I made it as per the above recipe, to a T. I used wheat pearl couscous so it wasn’t as pretty =( . However, I splurged on some pistachios and laid a sexxxaay filet of balsamic lemon salmon over that bad boy. It was all that and a bag of beautiful Italian parsley ;)
THANKS!
This is my favorite salad. If this is something you just threw together, you are a genius! The crunch from the peas and cucumber along with the tang of the feta and saltiness of the pistachios is perfect with that hint of lemon. It’s perfect for a hot summer day.
Fav line from this post: “Feta cheese tooโฆ because come on! Donโt be dumb.”
Mmmmmm this looks delicious! I think I am going to try it out soon.
I searched “salad” on your blog the other day, and decided to make this tonight in order to combat all of the butter/sugar/salt I’ve been shoveling lately! (‘Tis the season.) It was delicious! And now I can eat more cranberry/ginger scones. Love your blog and your podcast with Tracy.
Made this on Saturday night – paired nicely with moose dip sandwiches. Yes, that’s like a French (beef) dip but made with moose. Northern BC local eatin’. My guests loved the pistachios – very exotic! Thanks :)
It seems like Turkish couscous that our relatives lived in countryside prepared ( ? mean dried couscous) at home for winter and they used to send us .It was more delicious than commercialised ones.
dinner from deep in the archives! lovely for springtime. next time I’ll lean a little lighter on the pasta for a slightly higher ratio of veg