Greek Style Pearl Couscous Salad

Loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and kalamata olives, this Greek Style Pearl Couscous Salad is super refreshing, bursting with flavor and sure is a nice twist on your traditional Greek Salad! Bound to become a favorite this summer…

If you’re not familiar, Pearl Couscous, also known as Israeli Couscous, is very similar to pasta — in fact it IS a type of pasta, which gets toasted and formed into tiny little pearls — but it has a little bit more of a bite to it; its texture I would describe as a cross between pasta and barley.

I think that its crunchy nature makes it a brilliant addition to refreshing summer salads, as it doesn’t tend to absorb all the liquid and then turn super mushy on you, even if you prepare said salad way ahead of time. Even after a few days, it still pops in your mouth as you chew on it.

Seriously, if you’ve never tried it, I say you should totally straighten that out, and I think I’ve got just the recipe for you! This Greek Style Pearl Couscous Salad it’s super fresh, crisp, bursting with flavor and exploding with all kinds of textures. It’s the perfect accompaniment for all of your summer meals.

I know it’ll totally be a regular for me!  

Cook the pearl couscous like you would pasta, in plenty of salted boiling water, until “al dente”, then drain and rinse under cold running water until it’s completely chilled.

While the couscous is cooking, combine 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, 4 Lebanese cucumbers, 1/2 a red onion, a cup of cubed feta cheese, a cup of pitted kalamata olives, a generous handful of mint, and then add the chilled couscous.

In a small glass measuring cup, combine some olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, Dijon, dried oregano, salt, pepper and minced garlic, then whisk vigorously until well blended and slightly emulsified and pour right over the salad.

Toss the salad gently until all the ingredients are fully combined.

Technically, you could serve your salad immediately, but I strongly suggest that you put it in the fridge for an hour or two, to allow all those beautiful flavors to mingle and make friends!

You could also make the salad up to a day ahead of time, but you’ll probably have to give it a quick stir before serving, just to separate the grains and freshen it up a bit.

Leftovers will keep for up to several days, providing that you keep them in the refrigerator of course! 

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4.74 from 15 votes

Greek Style Pearl Couscous Salad

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and kalamata olives, this Greek Style Pearl Couscous Salad is super refreshing, bursting with flavor and sure is a nice twist on your traditional Greek Salad! Bound to become a favorite this summer...

Servings: 8

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• 1 cup pearl couscous
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into thick half slices
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup feta cheese, cubed
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

For the vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

• Cook the pearl couscous like you would pasta, in plenty of salted boiling water, until "al dente", then drain and rinse under cold running water until completely chilled.
• While the couscous is cooking, combine the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, mint, Feta cheese and Kalamata olives in a large salad bowl, then add the chilled couscous.
• In a small glass measuring cup, combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette and whisk vigorously until well blended and slightly emulsified. Pour over the salad and toss gently until fully combined.
• Serve immediately or place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to allow flavors to meld.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 634mg, Potassium: 373mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 545IU, Vitamin C: 14.4mg, Calcium: 143mg, Iron: 1.3mg

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Couscous

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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