Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Who Made This SALAD!!!???


 I have decided to make an effort to cook healthy for my family but I also want it to be fun and tasty. One of the recipes I found was for  a Couscous & Fruit Salad. I made this for dinner the night before my kick-off meeting for my MOPS group and decide to make extra to take the next day. When I pulled out everything that I needed, I realized my kids had eaten all but one of the nectarines. The raspberries I had purchased just 3 days prior were molded and had to be thrown away. I had blueberries which was great, but I knew it would need something else. Luckily, I had just purchased these delicious dried white grapes from Henry's Market. These actually made that salad for me. One other modification I made was to drizzle honey over the salad tossing  it, and drizzle honey again. The shallot's in the salad were very strong and the I was hoping the honey would help, which it did very nicely. Next time I will actually half the amount of shallots called for.
How did this salad work for my family? My husband seemed to eat most of his and added a second serving, my 17 year old ate hers right up, my  5 year old did alright with it, and my 3 year old son ate the fruit and left the couscous. I loved it, and I hoped my MOPS group would too. The next morning after having been chilled over night (when we ate it for dinner it wasn't chilled and it is way better chilled) I took it to my group. I was nervous that nobody would eat it. I like different salads but I didn't know if this was too different. Then half way through the meeting I hear "Who made this Salad???" I look up and I see Susie holding up my bowl and exclaiming how amazing it was. After the meeting 3 moms came up to me asking how to make it.. I found a winning recipe and wanted to share it here with you! I will note the modifications I made in the recipe in pink. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did and my MOPS group did. In a few days I will be sharing with you my Baked Oatmeal Recipe which is another favorite amongst my MOPS group and my family!

 Enjoy!

Couscous & Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons finely chopped shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups cooked whole-wheat couscous
1 cup chopped nectarine
1 cup mixed fresh berries, such as blueberries and raspberries
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds, (see Tip) ( I did not toast mine)
Honey for drizzling and dried white grapes (purchased at Henry's Market bulk section)

Preparation:
Whisk oil, orange juice, vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add cooked couscous, nectarines, dried grapes, berries and almonds; drizzle with honey (twice) gently toss to combine.

Tip:
To toast sliced almonds, heat a small dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

The recipe as is serves 4, so just double or triple as needed!



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3 comments:

  1. Couscous is great! This does sound like a winning recipe. Thank you for linking it to Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks yummy. Love couscous - thanks for sharing! liz

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are really delightful colourful treats and photographs. Dish of mint and chestnut, strawberries and cream, vanilla and salted caramel are my favorite. Your dishes are looks too much delicious.

    ReplyDelete

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