Mandarin Couscous Salad

Submitted by HokiesMom

"From Light and Tasty magazine, Dec. 2004..submitted by D. Anderson. I have to admit, I've never tried couscous because it always looks so dry when I've seen it. I'm posting this recipe in hopes someone will review it and tell me if this one will be different. I did not see anything similar on this site. I'm hoping this will get me going in the right direction with a healthy alternative for side dishes. (Time to make is a guess as I've not made this before but it does include the time to chill the couscous)."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 7

ingredients

• 1 1⁄3 cups water
• 1 cup couscous, uncooked
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1⁄2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1⁄3 cup red onion, chopped (I'd probably use Vidalia)
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar or 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

directions

1. Place water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Stir in couscous and cover then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Fluff with a fork then recover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
4. In a bowl, combine the oranges, peas, almonds, onion and couscous.
5. In a jar with a tight lid, combine the vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and hot pepper sauce then shake well.
6. Pour dressing over couscous mixture and toss to coat.

Reviews

[Queenofcamping]

Made for ZWT for the Golden Gourmets. This was really good. I made the entire recipe and have been taking it for lunch this week since I am the only one in the house that will eat couscous. Very light, refreshing lunch.

 

[ellie_]

This is great! I cooked teh couscous and put it in the fridge before work and after work the rest of the salad went to gether in no time at all -- and tasted wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

 

[bluemoon downunder]

A lovely couscous recipe that I know I'll be making again. With the exception of the hot pepper sauce which I omitted (zero tolerance of anything hot and spicy), and the addition of some thinly sliced mushrooms and a sprinkling of thyme, I made this exactly to the recipe. Great blend of flavours and textures. We particularly liked the mandarin segments and the slivered almonds in this. Couscous recipes can be so bland, so I'm really glad to have found this one, HokiesLady! :) Thank you for sharing it. Made for Gimme 5!

 

[KellyMae]

Excellent and easy to make. As soon as I put it in my mouth 'oh my, this is awesome' and I was planning when I was going to make it again. The only change I did was after sitting I immediately put it in a bowl to fluff, and kept tossing to allow the steam to quickly escape. Tastes best when newly mixed as the flavors mellowed the next day. Definitely making this again. Thanks!

 

[Boomette]

This couscous salad is great even though I forgot to add cider vinegar LOL. I used only 1 tbs of olive oil, splenda instead of sugar, and no salt. Thanks Melissa. Made for 123 hit wonders