Mexican Couscous Salad
Kids lunch doesn't have to be just sandwiches and wraps. Make this vibrant, colorful Mexican couscous salad and introduce them to different flavors and vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 cups couscous cooked, See My Notes
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 count onion medium size, finely chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper chopped
- ½ cup green pepper chopped
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 1 cup black beans cooked
- 1 count medium carrot grated
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon chili powder See My Notes
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- In a medium-size saucepan pour 1 and ½ cups of water and let it boil. Add some salt and oil.
- Once you see the water boiling, switch off the stove, remove the pan from the stove and stir in the couscous; stir it with a fork and cover the pan with a lid.
- After 10-15 minutes empty the cooked couscous on a large plate; spread and fluff it; this will help to avoid getting sticky/mushy couscous.
- Meanwhile, in a large non-stick pan, add the oil and saute the garlic and onions, adding a pinch of salt. Adding salt enables the onions to cook quicker.
- Add rest of the vegetables, black beans, and the seasonings and salt as per taste. Sprinkle some water and close the pan with a lid. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now add 2 cups of couscous and mix well. Taste and check for seasoning.
- Stir in the chopped cilantro.
- Now add the cooked couscous to the vegetables and mix it well.
- Drizzle few drops of lemon juice (optional, I didn't do it), cilantro and mix it once again.
Notes
- I was not aware how much-cooked couscous will a cup of dry couscous yield. So boiled water for 1.5 cups of couscous and when it cooked up saw that it was a lot. It measured to 4 cups of cooked couscous. If I prepare so much all at once, we would have to eat it for at least 2-3 days and everyone will get bored. I didn't want to try freezing because my freezer was already full and also didn't know how well it would freeze. So used just 2 cups of cooked couscous for this Mexican couscous recipe. I refrigerated the other 2 cups and used to make a mushroom-spinach couscous recipe which was another hit with my family. Recipe to follow soon.
- I usually have cumin, coriander powders at home. All these ground spices are a staple. But if you don't have it, or don't prefer by individual spices like this buy taco seasoning or even garam masala powder, curry powder will work.
- Before storing the cooked Mexican couscous in the fridge, I drizzled a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and mixed it well. I did this because I thought the couscous won't get all dried up for the next day. I guess it helped. The kids said it was nice and soft when they had it for lunch the following day.
Taste & Texture
This Mexican couscous salad had a nice chewy texture along with the cooked vegetables and black beans. The cumin, coriander and chili powder was a perfect way to season it.
Nutrition
Serving: 4 Servings | Calories: 447kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 599mg | Potassium: 458mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 845IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 3mg
