Confetti Couscous Salad (vegan)- Vibrant, Fresh, Super Easy

Been making this recipe from Vegetarian Times for years, and it's a favorite because of its alive, bright flavors. I'd forgotten about it for a while, until the recent heat wave and a need for some easy & nutritious whole foods made me start digging for some dishes that are low-cook, low-kitchen-time, and low cost. This is very similar in ingredients to the Easy Burrito recipe I posted last week, but with a little less cooking!

Use fresh peppers and herbs from the garden or farmer's market! I used a fresh-picked Habanero pepper, which is one of the hottest peppers on the Scoville Heat Scale, and my fingertips burned for hours, literally! We made vegan chocolate chip cookies for dessert after this- try this awesome recipe (I prefer to use another egg substitute- Ener-G Egg Replacer- in place of the applesauce. A bit too cakey otherwise)!



















Confetti Couscous
from Vegetarian Times Issue: June 1, 2000, p.60

Ingredient List

6 servings

1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 to 4 Tbs. fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup uncooked couscous
15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 3/4 cups cooked black beans
1 cup cooked fresh (about 2 ears) or thawed frozen corn
1/2 cup diced red onion

Directions

NOTE: Because of my dislike of most raw veggies, I actually saute the peppers for a few minutes before adding to the salad.

In medium saucepan, combine salt, cumin and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add couscous, stir and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff again.

Add beans, corn, onion, bell peppers if using, cilantro and jalapeno. Stir in oil and enough lime juice to give salad a puckery edge. Serve warm or at room temperature.