Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Couscous Salad

Julesong's Note:

A lovely light salad from Cooking Light! You’re used to seeing the cheese/tomato/basil combination, but have you had it with couscous before? Delicious! Prep time includes marinating.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 5

• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• ¾ cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons minced shallots
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon lemon juice (white balsamic or champagne vinegar okay) or ¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar (white balsamic or champagne vinegar okay)
• ½ teaspoon salt , to taste
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper or ¼ teaspoon tricolor pepper , to taste
• 1 garlic clove , crushed and minced
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
• basil leaves , for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine the tomato, mozzarella, shallots, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic, toss well then refrigerate, covered, to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. In a saucepan bring the water to a boil and gradually stir in the couscous; remove from the stove, cover, and set aside for 5 minutes.
3. With a fork, fluff the couscous then let cool.
4. Add the cooled couscous and chopped basil to the tomato mixture in the bowl and toss.
5. Garnish with whole basil leaves and serve.
6. Note: part-skim mozzarella cheese can be substituted.

Reviews

[CookingAbroad]

love it! i serve mine warm when it's cooler outside and occasionally sub in quinoa for couscous. Excellent next day lunch with some crusty wheat bread.

[L'ecole]

A lovely light-but-satisfying summer salad. I added more lemon (1/2 lemon = maybe 1 tablespoon?) and more basil (maybe 1/3 cup rather than 1/4 -- a bunch, at any rate), but we tend to go for stronger flavors. A great way to use our newly-ripened tomatoes!

[ColiesKitchen]

I used Israeli couscous, cut thc shallots down to 2 tbs, fresh lemon juice, and used a whole clove of garlic, next time I would only use maybe a half. The garlic overwhelms the salad a bit. Other than that I LOVE this recipe. It's hard for me to say if the pepper could be cut down to 1/8tsp because the garlic is so heavy. I can't decide if the heat is from the garlic or the pepper. The flavor is amazing. I love the salad before I even added the couscous. I could eat that alone! Thanks for sharing it's so very good!