Herbed Couscous Salad with Chickpeas, Preserved Lemon, and Pickled Onions

Name: Herbed Couscous Salad with Chickpeas, Preserved Lemon, and Pickled Onions
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: ¼ cup red wine vinegar; 1 teaspoon sugar; ½ red onion, thinly sliced; 1 cup couscous; 1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves, roughly chopped; 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed; 8 slices preserved lemon, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped; 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint; 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; 2 tablespoons olive oil; ¼ teaspoon salt

Katherine Martinelli Website

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This speedy and impressive salad gets lots of zing from preserved lemons and quickly pickled onions with plenty of fresh flavor from the chopped herbs. Cooked couscous is combined with spinach, chickpeas, preserved lemons, fresh mint, fresh parsley, olive oil, and salt. Red onion that has been quickly pickled in red wine vinegar is added and the salad is done! Serve it right away or make it ahead for a picnic or potluck. This is also a great dish for a deskside lunch when you can't get away during a busy work day.

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Servings: 4

Ready in: 20min PT20M

Ingredients

¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup couscous
1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
8 slices preserved lemon, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

Whisk together red wine vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved; add onion and toss to combine. Set aside while you prepare rest of the salad.
Add 1 cup water in a small pot over medium-heat and bring to a boil; add couscous, stir, cover, and remove from heat. Allow to rest for 5 minutes; fluff with a fork.
Add couscous, spinach, chickpeas, preserved lemon, mint, parsley, olive oil, and salt in a large salad bowl; stir onions and pickling liquid and toss together. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to three days.

Mealthy tip:

Don’t have enough time to plan a big meal? No problem, add some shredded rotisserie chicken and you’ve got yourself an instant dinner!

Reviews

5.0out of 5 Stars

(5 Reviews)

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What others are saying

Monica Allen says:

Shredded rotisserie chicken was the perfect addition to this couscous salad. I actually used a lemon herb rotisserie chicken that cost a couple bucks. Perfect for spring, I am definitely going to make it again.

Santana Williams says:

Perfect salad but I had to use quinoa instead of couscous. I made the pickled onions the night before so they were very flavorful the next day. Perfect for get together and also love it for my weekly lunch meal prep.

DC Cote says:

I've only had couscous in traditional, African dishes, so this Mediterranean-inspired version was different but I like the way it turned out. The pickled onions was a nice touch, glad I tried it.

Sam Dalton says:

This is definitely one of my favorite salads. It's a wonderful texture balance between the chickpeas and couscous. The mint and parsley also give it a nice flavor. This is one of our favorites to eat with dinner and double the batch for when we have company.

Katie Hason says:

This couscous salad is incredibly quick and simple to make. It's also very delicious! The lemon, mint, and parsley give it incredible flavor. It's definitely one of my new favorite dishes.