Hey hey pretty friend!
One of life’s great pleasures is sharing a salad over lunch. You know… one of those leisurely lunches that involve pink wine and lots of bread baskets. The kind of lunch that lasts until at least 3:30 in the afternoon. The kind of lunch where you almost run out of things to talk about… but that never happens. I covet those lunches, especially on a Monday.
Let’s share a salad! I should tell you now that I put blueberries in it. Trust me on this one. Also… call me the salad whisperer.
We’re in the game! Meet our new friend Israeli Couscous… it’s actually a tiny pasta and boils up to be so satisfying and supremely fun to eat.
We’re going to combine our couscous with salty, lemony, and herby ingredients… then we’re going to add crunchy toasted pecans, and berries! Heck yes.
Every kind of cooked pasta benefits from lemon, salt, pepper and parmesan. You know it’s true.
Oh heeey new flavor friends! I love how capers and whole grain mustard taste together. Totally complimentary. Good olive oil is always the move. I love California Olive Ranch.
This is when things get interesting! Blueberries, pecans, and parsley and a big ol’ stir.
This salad feels like a surprise. What kind of salad also combines parsley and blueberries? What kind of salad mixes mustard and pecans? This kind of salad. Somewhere in this madness is delicious success. It’s actually pretty cool that all of these savory flavors so easily welcome sweet fruit.
This is one of those salads you should take to your friend’s end of summer barbecue. You’ll get weird looks, followed by high-fives. Who doesn’t like high-fives? I mean… total win!
Toasted Pecan and Fresh Blueberry Couscous Salad
makes about 2 cups
1 cup dried Israeli couscous
2 cups water
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh cracked pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice on 1 lemon
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
small handful coarsely chopped fresh parsley
large handful salad greens
Bring water to a boil. Season water with a good pinch of salt and add dried couscous. Cook until couscous is tender through, about 12 minutes. Drain couscous from water (there may only be a bit of water remaining), and rinse couscous in cool water. Pour into a medium bowl.
Add cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice to the couscous. Stir to combine. Add mustard, capers, and lemon zest and stir to combine, making sure the mustard is evenly distributed. Finally, stir in the pecans, blueberries, and parsley. Season to taste.
Chill until ready to serve. When ready to serve, toss in a handful of salad greens and toss to combine.
Jamie
This is gorgeous, joy! perfect way to take advantage of the last few weeks of blueberry season!
kitchen afternoon
A nice transitional meal for this weather! Now for a transitional cardigan!
Andj
I am half moved (aka eating off of paper plates until next weekend) so I will have to wait at least a week to try this. and i have to try this because it looks deliciouss.
erin @hooleywithaz
yes please, and i’ll have two helpings!
The Bearfoot Baker
I need to go shopping now! I want to make this for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!
Tieghan
This is my favorite new salad!! I love grain salad and am always game with anything that includes blueberries!
Anu
Who would’ve thought! This actually looks pretty good :)
Heather
Headed to the beach, and this salad will be perfect…..thanks joy joy.
joythebaker
live that beach life!!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
Aw yeahhh blueberries up in my salad/pasta, WIN!
shelly @ohshellsbells
i just want to be at home making this!
Caz
I love fruits in my salads so why not blueberry? It sounds amazing. Long live leisurely lunches!
Casey @ Snip of Mint
Oh yum! Israeli cous cous is one of my favorite things! Here in Israel, it’s not actually as popular as it deserves to be.
I’m going to have to give this recipe a try in its homeland! :)
joythebaker
as popular as it deserves to be! i love that!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
Blueberries in a salad makes it automatically awesome.
But the “leisurely lunches that involve pink wine and lots of bread baskets” sounds pretty amazing as well :)