This Israeli couscous Greek salad is a melting pot of flavors in a light, delicious side dish.
So couscous is known as the national dish of Morocco, but make the little pasta balls a bit bigger and then it gets labeled as “Israeli”, throw the elements of a Greek salad into it and you’ve got one hell of a melting pot on your plate.
I’ve never been to Israel, although half of my father’s family is supposedly from that general vicinity (we legitimately don’t know half his ancestry), but I have been to Morocco and Greece.
This salad is like the love child of those two countries.
I think it’s far better to think of the delicious couscous than the memories of the Moroccan army boarding our tour bus with assault rifles slung over their shoulders as we crossed the Spanish border into their country or the absolutely filthy streets of Casablanca where litter was literally flying through the air in the wind and best yet, the foreign meat that we all ate at what I can only describe as Morocco’s version of Medieval Times that turned out to be camel (tastes like a fatty version of veal FYI).
I don’t have nearly as exciting memories of Greece, just that it was insanely hot (we climbed the steps to the Parthenon in 110 degree weather) and that I ate an insane amount of Greek salads in the span of 10 days.
I don’t think the taste of raw onions left my mouth until about a week after I got home.
That’s the thing about Greek salads, love every single bit of them except the raw onion part. How are you supposed to enjoy the delicious moussaka, pastichio or spanakopita when you could knock someone out with the smell of your breath?
I didn’t want Morocco to be all “dude what’s with your breath?” to Greece for this one so, Greece went in the oven to be tamed.
25 minutes later and this Israeli couscous was one big party in the multicultural salad bowl.
Full of flavor and sans assault rifles, what more could you ask for?
Love grain salads like this?
Try other similar recipes like this roasted strawberry couscous, pesto couscous (another African and Mediterranean mashup) or tabbouleh. My favorite tabbouleh is either this gluten-free version made with millet or lentil tabbouleh which swaps out traditionally used bulgur wheat for protein and fiber rich lentils.
Israeli Couscous Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked Israeli couscous
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
- Toss tomatoes and onions with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt & pepper in a medium bowl. Spread on baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- While tomatoes & onions roast, combine couscous, herbs and spices in a medium bowl.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and remaining olive oil.
- Once tomatoes & onions are roasted, combine with couscous and herbs.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.
- Lastly, fold in feta crumbles.
- Adjust seasoning to taste and garnish with extra basil or mint if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Yum! This does look good. I net it’s even better the day after you make it! Is your dad partly Palestinian, by any chance? That’s a whole other thing, food-wise. A whole other fabulously delicious thing! I loooove Palestinian food. I married into Palestinian food, actually, so we get to eat it a lot here.
We think partly Syrian. I don’t think I’ve ever really had Palestinian food but considering I eat and like pretty much everything, I’m sure it’s delicious!
the header looks great, congrats!
What a beautiful couscous dish, Gina! This looks so flavorful, colorful and deeelish. Great recipe!
Mmmm!!! I’ve never had couscous before that I know of!!! EEEEEKKKKK, when I’m off this grain free thang, I should give this a try!! I love anything with a burst of flavor!
xxoo
Oh man, there are some good cous cous recipes out there today. I guess I’m going to have to raid Whole Foods bulk section! :-) Yum!
The new header looks great! Greece is at the top of my travel list…it just looks so insanely pretty there. I hear you on the raw onions too – good idea to roast them. :)
What a pretty looking salad. And saw your orange choc pudding on the foodie sites…and when I saw the pics in the post yesterday, knew it would be popular :)
Wow, another great dish! I love the recipe, I’m not a huge couscous fan, but I’m going to try it with Quinoa, another grain I have in the cupboard that I haven’t used. Do you think Quinoa will work ok? I just love all the flavors you used.
have you tried israeli couscous? I only ask b/c it’s very different than normal couscous (which I’m not a huge fan of either). But that being said, this would be awesome with quinoa or millet as someone else suggested!
My kind of salad!
Delicious looking recipe! There is a great grain blend at Trader Joe’s that contains Israeli couscous and I think it’d be fab in this. Love the inclusion of mint! Thanks for the idea!
I know exactly what blend you’re talking about, love that one!