Kale and Couscous Salad with Garbanzo Beans, Apricots and Vinaigrette Dressing



This kale and couscous dish is not just a salad, it's a meal! This super healthy salad is packed with a rainbow of colorful veggies to ensure you get your daily intake of vitamins and minerals. To round out the salad, it includes generous portions of garbanzo beans and pearl couscous ~ which makes the salad more filling ;o) If you don't care for the taste (or texture) of traditional couscous (i.e., moroccan), you might like pearl couscous... the round "pearls" are larger and heartier than traditional, and it come in three varieties ~ original, tricolor (my favorite) and whole wheat. And the dried apricots and splash of vinaigrette dressing give this salad a slightly sweet and refreshing taste, while the toasted walnuts provide a little punch of protein and nutty crunch. Seriously delicious! ??

Servings: 4 main entrees or 8 1-cup side salads

Ingredients
  • 1 cup uncooked pearl couscous (original, tricolor or whole wheat), plus extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 cups kale, finely chopped
  • 1 cup radicchio, finely chopped
  • 1 cup brussel sprouts, finely chopped
  • 1 can low salt garbanzo beans (or rinsed), drained
  • 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
  • 1/2 cups dried apricots, chopped
  • 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Dressing Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 Tbsp cane sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  1. Cook couscous according to package instructions. Lightly drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
  2. While couscous is cooking, clean and cut veggies.
  3. Heat a medium frying pan over medium high heat. Add the walnuts in a single layer and toast, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, or until the walnuts start to brown.
  4. Toss kale, brussel sprouts, radicchio, garbanzo beans, celery, carrots, apricots and onions in a large bowl until combined.
  5. Add couscous and dressing to kale mixture and toss lightly.
  6. Divide the kale mixture among 4 plates or bowls. Top with toasted walnuts. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kashikeyo Baipen (Screwpine fruit Porridge)

Image
I know I posted this a long time ago but I took some of my old posts out due to some comments I got but then again , I realized  different people make their recipes differently, so why bother what people say. Anyway, the first time I heard of this recipe was from my husband. We had just been married and living in Kulhudhufushi as my husband was working there for 6 months.  I love screwpine fruit and its heady perfume. So there I was making, or rather trying to make, kashikeyo kandhi and hubby kept hovering around, going that's not how my mum used to make. Yes I know ladies,  there are lots of new weds, who read this who have heard this line LOL??. Anyway , a few years later,  I finally tasted the  dish , which by the way was a totally different  dish altogether, so my hubby was right???? .   My mum in law  showed me how to make  it and I love making this, especially during Ramadhan, as its not just a desert dish , it can even be eating...
Read more

DIY Water Balloon Flip Flops!

Image
Easy and Fun DIY Water Balloon Flip Flops! S imply tie water balloons in a knot around the flip flop straps!  We liked the rainbow color pattern... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Be creative and have fun!  F or my daughters birthday this year we made these bright and fun flip flops at the party. The girls all had a fun time making them and they can't wait to wear them to school on the same day!  We got this idea from my niece who made these at a party a few years ago.  We thought they were so cute that we wanted to try them at our party this year.  We bought black flip flops for every girl from Old Navy, for $2.50 a pair.  I would recommend going a size larger in flip flops.  We bought 3 packs of 500 water balloons and had plenty of water balloons left over, perfect for a water balloon fight! What you'll need: 8 pair flip flops in every one's sizes     1,500 water balloons 8 girls to tie the water balloons onto the flip flo...
Read more

Banbukeyo Hithi ( Breadfruit Curry)

Image
For ages I kept meaning to try one of the Hithi recipes. Hithi means bitter but this is not a bitter curry. Its called hith i because its uses a spice known locally as hithi damui . My mum kept saying its difficult getting hithi damui you can only get it from the local ayuvedhi stalls until my sister discovered after seeing the spice that it was in fact ajwain/ carom seeds . I have seen ajwain seeds in a local shop and also in some of the Indian specialty shops. Ajwain seeds although it looks a lot like tiny cumin seeds  has a slightly different taste. There  are two kinds of hithi , one is this banbukeyo ( breadfruit )  hithi and the other is maalhoskeyo hithi ( plaintain). Recipe : Banbukeyo Hithi Serves 4 -6 1/4 piece of a regular size banbukeyo (about 250g) 2 garlic cloves, finely grated 1/2 inch ginger grated 10 curry leaves small piece pandan leaf 1/4 tsp tumeric 100g smoked tuna 1 small onion thinly sliced 1/2 tsp ajwain or hithi damui 150 ml coconut milk 700...
Read more