African Couscous Salad

I love couscous, especially cold couscous salad. This couscous salad has a nice sweet North-African taste to it, and a little tang from the red wine vinegar. I think that cider vinegar would also taste fantastic! This is best if completely chilled before serving, giving the flavors time to meld ;)
My 3 critics enjoyed it, as did I.... definitely will be making it again. It is quite filling, therefore, I think it would be the perfect packed lunch. It makes a great side dish too!


Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat couscous (makes 3 cups cooked and fluffed with fork)
1 1/4 cup hot fat-free chicken broth
290 g jar of chickpeas (210 g just chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup diced celery
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/4 cup raisins, not packed!
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (approx. 25g)
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

*To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.


Directions
- Boil the chicken broth in a small saucepan. Once broth is boiling, remove from heat.
- Add couscous, stir to fully coat couscous and cover.
- While couscous is sitting, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (see note below on optional olive oil).
- Fluff couscous with a fork and let cool. (if you add the hot couscous, it will absord too much of the liquid in the mix... including the water in the vegetables... so it is best to wait till it has cooled).
- Once couscous has cooled to room temperature, add to the salad mix.
- Mix and refrigerate.

Nutritional Data
3 WW points
187.5 cal
1.1 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.3 g protein

Add 1 tbsp Olive Oil to the recipe (when you add the vineagar) and the values change too
4 WW points
207.4 cal
3.3 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.2 g protein

Ginger-Peanut Salad Dressing

Here is my take on the Japanese salad dressing. It is completely different from what you get at the restaurant, but it tastes delicious! Mine is mild, since my daughter and I have sissy tongues... Feel free to add some red pepper flakes or Asian chili-garlic condiment to give it a little kick!

I made a salad tonight with baby spinach, fresh bean spouts, grated carrots, sliced red peppers, cucumber and some green onions. Topped that with some cooked chicken breast and 2 tbsp of this dressing. It was delicious, even the 2 little critics finished their plates (minus little bits of green onions that were made into a neat little pile). They didn't even know they were eating spinach, and loved it, how great is that?!! They especially liked the beanspouts and the dressing (i see a potential side dish!).

Ingredients
(makes 300 ml, approx 10 servings)

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste*
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions
- In a bowl, mix hot water and peanut butter.
- Mix in all other ingredients.
- Refrigerate until cool.

*Ginger-Garlic Paste is a common ingredient in lots of Indian and Asian cuisine. You can find it in most specialy shops, and even in some supermarkets. If you can't find any, you can easily make your own.

Nutritional Data
1 serving = 2 tbsp
1 WW point
51 cal
3.7 g fat
2.8 g carbs
0.5 g fiber
2 g protein

Corn & Red Pepper Salad

This salad is very refreshing is the perfect side dish for a Tex-Mex meal! It is also delicious with additional veggies added! This gets thumbs up from both little critics, as well as the picky husband! Yay for corn salad!

Ingredients
2 small cans of sweet corn, drained and rinsed ( 285 gr drained each can)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 large red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green onion (scallion), chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (whichever you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
- Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let flavors blend together.
Nutritional Data
1 cup serving
2 WW points
131.6 cal
1.6 g fat
30.6 g carbs
3.9 g fiber
4.3 g protein

Greek Bulgur Salad

Bulgur is a grain I discovered a couple of years ago. It resembles short grain rice, but has a chewier texture. It is fantastic warm or cold. I like to use it in place of rice for hot meals, or cold to make delicious salads. It is packed with fiber and very nutritious. I made this for myself, and I enjoyed it. I used canned shrimp since that was all I had, but I think it would be better the next time with frozen shrimp or with no shrimp at all, but as a side dish for a nice grilled shrimp dinner! Mmm, now I am salivating for fresh BBQ's shrimp...

I will test this out on the little critics when they get home from school... I have a fishy feeling they will be picking out several things and just eating the bulgur... they LOVE bulgur!
Ingredients
1/2 lb uncooked bulgur
2 cups low fatchicken broth
20 gr sun-dried tomato, diced (4 halves, not oil-packed!)
1/2 lemon, juiced
can of cocktail shrimp, drained and rinsed (100gr without liquid)
1/2 cup diced cucumber
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/c cup crumbled low-fat feta *
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Greek seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

*the low fat feta I used was 12% fat (nutrional data is based on that value).

Directions
- In a medium saucepan, add bulgur to chicken broth and bring to a boil
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes and boil for another 5 minutes, covered, or until all liquid has been absorbed. The bulgur should have a chewy texture like that of rice when still al dente. (No matter how long you cook it, it will never reach the softness of rice!)
- Remove from heat, squeeze juice of half a lemon into bulgur, mix and let cool.
-In a large salad bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients and toss.
- Once bulgur has completely cooled, mix it into the salad mix and refrigerate at least 30 minutes until nice and cool.

Nutritional Data
You might think the portion is small, but bulgur is incredibly filling ;)
1 1/2 cup main dish serving (makes 4 servings)
6 WW points
339 cal
5.7 g fat
39 g cholesterol
52 g carbs
11 g fiber
24 g protein

1 cup side dish servings without shrimp (makes 6 servings)
4 WW points
208 cal
3.5 g fat
7.5 g fiber
0.8 g cholesterol
34.5 g carbs
12.7 g protein

Couscous Salad for Two!

I am horrible at measuring the proper amount of pasta, rice or couscous.... or any other grain that swells up when cooking! Today's leftover: couscous!

I love couscous salad, and always whip up a different one depending what I have on hand. I usually omit oil when making salad, since I am trying to lose weight, but go ahead and add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to the mix if you aren't worried about the fat! I recently purchased a bottle of Apricot Balsamic Vinegar that is devine! I have never tasted flavored Balsamic vinegars before, but now that I have, I am hooked. I will be trying all the other flavors I saw at the supermarket! The bottle I purchased is from Olitalia, an Italian brand available here in Europe... I'm not sure if it's sold in North-America though. HoweverI did find a place that sells it online.


Ingredients

2 cups cold cooked couscous
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp Herbes de Provence*
2 tbsp minced or diced red onion
2 tbsp Apricot Balsamic Vinegar**
salt and pepper to taste

Simple Directions :)
- Mix all ingredients, except the couscous.
-Add couscous and mix to coat.

*Herbes de Provence is a blend of herbes. You can find it in most supermarkets. If yours doesn't carry any, here is a recipe to make your own.
**If you can't find Apricot Balsamic, substitute it with any other fruit infused Balsamic vinegar, or a sweet Balsamic Vinegar.

Nutrional Data
1 serving
4 WW Points
212 cal
0.6 g fat
3.9 g fiber
7 g protein
0 g cholesterol