Southwestern CousCous Salad

I'm always on the hunt for good side dishes especially now that summer's around the corner..although this gross weather we've been having wouldn't be any type of predictor for that! So..this cous cous salad was featured on Whole Foods. It's a good recipe but needed a few tweaks. Overall we really did enjoy it and I like recipes that swap your typical white pasta for a good whole grain instead!

My washed veggies inside my lovely Rachel Ray garbage bowl...I love this stupid garbage bowl..it makes chopping tons of veggies a lot easier!

Whole Wheat Cous Cous...I always grab it at Trader Joe's because it's cheap and always available!

The cooked whole wheat cous cous...it's SO easy to prepare..you bowl a cup and a half of water, add cous cous, cover, turn heat off, let it sit for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork!

Veggies, some cilantro, and a can of black beans are all added...

There's also some lime juice and spices (I tweaked the dressing a little..see below!) and your finished product!

Southwestern Couscous Salad
(adapted from http://www.wholefoods.com/)

1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) (I omitted this)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 15 oz can of black beans drained and rinsed
2 tomatoes chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 cup fresh corn kernels from 2 ears of corn (I used frozen organic sweet corn and defrosted it)

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Toss cous cous with all the remaining ingredients.

Nutritional Info: Makes 8 servings at 170 calories, 2.5g fat, 0g sat. fat, 7g fiber, 16g protein.

Just a note....I wasn't thrilled with the dressing of lime juice and chili powder. It tasted like nothing to me. I added a few tbsp of olive oil, my lime juice was more at 1/3 cup vs. the 1/4 cup the recipe called for. I used 1 tsp chili powder, and also added 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp salt. These will of course adjust the nutritional info listed.

enjoy!