The neverending couscous salad

This is the story of a rained out BBQ and the couscous salad that survived.

We had planned a cookout last Friday evening and I spent the afternoon making this lovely couscous salad.

I've recently fallen in love with whole wheat couscous. The nutritional profile is pretty fantastic with 1/3 of a cup packing a whopping 7 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein. Most importantly it's delicious, with a fluffy texture and slight nutty taste.

The salad was fantastic, I mixed chicken stock flavored couscous with black beans, corn, fresh cilantro and parsley and some grape tomatoes. I made a quick vinaigrette with lime juice and cumin. The result was divine. However, it was meant to be consumed by 10 people and instead was a side dish for 4. The flash floods had won this round.



Three days and many meals later I still had the pictured amount left, and though tasty, I needed some more variety in my diet so I came up with a plan!

Over the weekend a friend had been telling me about his plan to grow quinoa and mentioned that you could even make it into a very satisfying veggie burger. So when looking at this leftover couscous, with the texture being so similar to quinoa, I thought it could be the beginning of a great veggie burger.

I had already thawed some spinach to make spinach bread (I'll post this recipe tomorrow posted) so I threw some of the spinach in and then inspiration struck- tuna. A can of tuna can make anything into a meal. I had some white albacore that I didn't particularly like in tuna salad but thought would make a fantastic addition to this no longer veggie, veggie burger.

The result was flavorful, filling, and had a great texture. Very similar to a crab cake.

We ate these tuna 'croquettes'' with a large salad, the leftover couscous salad - because yes there were STILL leftovers- and the spinach bread that I had made earlier that day. What a great meal!

Liz's Cumin-Lime Couscous Salad
- This recipe will serve 15-20 people as a side. 

2 cups uncooked couscous
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or veg broth or bouillon)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1 cup of frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15 oz) cans of black beans, drained
1 cup of sliced grape tomatoes

Juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil


Bring the chicken broth to a boil and stir in the couscous. Immediately remove from heat and cover the pot. Let stand for 5 minutes. In the serving dish whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. Once the mixture looks well mixed pour in the fluffed couscous and add the black beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro and parsley. Mix well. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.


Liz's Tuna Croquettes
- Makes 6 patties of veggie burger size

2 6oz cans of white albacore tuna, drained well, flaked
1 cup of cumin-lime couscous salad (no tomatoes)
1/3 cup of frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1 lime, juiced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 panko bread crumbs

Mix the tuna and the couscous salad well with a fork. Mix in the spinach well and then add the lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, eggs, and bread crumbs. Mix with your hands.  The mixture should hold together when formed into a small patty. Heat a grill or saute pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil. Once the pan is hot place the patties in the pan and do not move! They will break apart if moved before they form a crust. Cook on one side for about 5 minutes, cook on the 2nd side for about 3 minutes. Remove and serve warm.