Notice a trend these days? Yes, it’s hot and I don’t like to cook when it’s too hot, so quick and easy recipes are best! This is a super quick 10 Min Summer Couscous Salad with Lemon Mustard Dressing that my husband loves to eat for lunch in the summer. What’s nice about it is that you can add pretty much any of your favourite veggies in it. You can’t go wrong! Just keep in mind that you should have a good amount of vegetables in it to be a balanced meal, so don’t be afraid to add more! At least half of your plate should be vegetables 🙂
This is the basic recipe, which holds really well in the fridge, covered, for 3-4 days. All you have to do is add the dressing and additional vegetables (if you wish) before eating. Perfect for weekday lunches at work or school.
Parsley
The parsley in this recipe is not a garnish, but an integral part of this recipe. In a nod to a classic tabbouleh, this quick couscous salad recipe is made healthier with the addition of parsley. Parsley is too often forgotten in cooking, and yet, so beneficial for our health! It contains a wide variety of nutrients that our body needs to perform properly, such as vitamin K, C, and A.
Did you know that parsley also contains antioxidant flavonoids, and smaller amounts of folate, iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It has been used in folk medicine to help relieve pressure on our liver and therefore eliminate toxins more easily, which is always a good thing, especially in this polluted world we live in!
Wholegrain
In my effort to add variety in our lives, instead of buying regular wheat couscous, I’ve been buying couscous made with spelt and Kamut, 2 ancient grains in the wheat family but that contain a lot less gluten. A lot of people react to mass-produced wheat nowadays so this is a great alternative, however, if you don’t have a wheat-sensitivity and cannot find spelt or Kamut couscous, feel free to use regular couscous, but buy the wholegrain couscous if possible, not the basic white one, so that you get beneficial fibres and less processed grains.
For another simple and quick recipe to make with couscous, check out this 20 Min Cauliflower, Chickpea and Coconut Milk Curry.
Enjoy!
10 Min Summer Couscous Salad with Lemon Mustard Dressing | Vegan
A simple vegan lunch ready in just 10 minutes, packed with healthy vegetables, wholegrain fibre and proteins from chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup wholegrain couscous look for whole-wheat, or spelt, or Kamut
- 2 cups boiling filtered water
- 1 organic red pepper diced
- 1/2 organic yellow pepper diced
- 1 organic English cucumber diced
- 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
- 398 ml chickpeas (1 can) rinsed
Simple Lemon and Mustard Dressing
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice approx. 2 lemons
- 2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper (a few pinches)
Instructions
Simply put the couscous in a plate and pour the boiling water over it, making sure there's enough water to cover everything. Set aside for a few minutes, then fluff everything with a fork.
In a small bowl or a mason jar, mix the dressing ingredients and set aside.
Put all the other ingredients, diced pepper, cucumber, parsley and chickpeas, in a large bowl. Add the prepared couscous and mix well.
Your basic delicious salad is done and ready to be eaten or cover and put in the fridge for lunch! Add some extra veggies (if you wish) and salad dressing just before eating.
Recipe Notes
Options: feel free to add whatever you prefer, for extra vegetables, like fresh asparagus, diced tomatoes, even pumpkin seeds and chopped dates or dried cranberries. Yum!
Note: I do not believe anyone should worry about counting calories, but here is the nutritional information for one serving
Calories: 510kcal | Fat: 21g | Saturated fat: 2g | Sodium: 118mg | Potassium: 364mg | Carbohydrates: 72g | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 6g | Protein: 15g | Vitamin A: 920% | Vitamin C: 54.4% | Calcium: 70% | Iron: 4.4%
What a delicious lunch, I make this at the beginning of the week and take it to work for lunches, so filling yet light.
I love these kinds of salads in the summer. My husband doesn’t like couscous, so I haven’t cooked it in ages. I didn’t even know you get get a whole grain couscous, but your ancient grain version sounds so much better, and might change his mind with this delicious looking salad. I must look for it!
Yes, it’s a bit harder to find, but I’ve used spelt couscous and gamut couscous before, but at the very least I use whole-wheat couscous. It’s readily available in the organic aisle at my local big grocery store.
These kinds of meals are totally my jam during the summer (well, who are we kidding — year round!). The dressing sounds divine too. So fresh and bright!
hahaha I totally get ya! 😉 Thanks!