When you are looking for a light, yet flavorsome summer salad, look no further than couscous combined with veggies, herbs, and nuts or cheese.
This specific combination is super refreshing. Partially due to the fresh mint, of course, and partially due to the lovely lemon-turmeric dressing. Feta cheese, if you’re making a vegetarian version, combines with all the ingredients perfectly, providing a creamy texture that complements the couscous and crunchy roasted sunflower seeds.
Let’s start with couscous. If you’re gluten intolerant or simply avoiding wheat, you can replace it with quinoa. Another, yet not gluten-free alternative, is bulgur. The idea is, as you can see, to choose fine grains, as opposed to a gooey texture.
So, when you decide to make this salad, pay attention to the method. Otherwise, your couscous will be sticky and the ingredients and dressing will not mix well.
How to prevent this? Learn a very simple method to cook the perfect, fluffy couscous.
This salad is vegetarian. If you wish to prepare the vegan version, you can either skip the feta cheese or choose a non-dairy option.
One of the recipe stars, for me, is the fresh mint. Instead of just chopping and tossing it into the couscous with zucchini, you will be baking it for about 20 mins. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt the mint famous flavor. On the contrary, it contributes to the freshness of the dish. However I do like to add a bit of fresh mint, too 🙂
What if you don’t have the fresh herb? Use dried mint instead. I’ve tried this version as well, and it works just fine.
The sunflower seeds are a pleasant surprise, as they bring the crunchiness and the nutty flavor. You will be very happy with combining them with the creamy cheese and juicy zucchini or summer squash. Enjoy!
Refreshing and flavorsome couscous with zucchini and mint
Course: Salads4
servings10
minutes30
minutesIngredients
250 g couscous
2 large or 3 medium zucchini/squash
50 g feta cheese
80 g raw sunflower seeds
A handful of fresh mint
Salt to taste
- For the dressing
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp olive or other vegetable oil
Directions
- Preheat the oven. Cut the zucchini into slices, sprinkle with mint, salt, and olive oil. Bake until zucchini turns golden, for about 20 mins. Remove from the oven and let the zucchini cool.
- In the meantime, cook the couscous as per packaging instructions or learn here how to prepare non-sticking couscous.
- In a small pan, dry-toast the sunflower seeds. Add them to couscous.
- Cut the zucchini into cubes and add them to the couscous. Add the feta cheese and stir well.
- To prepare the dressing, mix all the ingredients. Pour the dressing into the salad, stir thoroughly and let it all sit for at least 10 mins before serving.