Couscous Salad with Pomegranate Seeds & Mint

September 14, 2012

It's Eating the Alphabet challenge time!  This month's letters? ... P, Q, or R.  Oh, wow, there were so many possibilities with this letter set.  Despite that, though, it was not hard for me to choose my dish to share ... I immediately knew I was going to share this Couscous Salad with Pomegranate Seeds & Mint.  It's one of my all-time absolute favorites!

I know, I know ... the flavor combination may sound a bit, well, ... odd.  But believe me, it's soooooo good.  The sweetness of the pomegranate seeds and dried currants, with the 'refreshingness' (yup, I think I just made that word up) of the fresh mint is wonderful.  And the pomegranate seeds and walnuts also bring a fantabulous crunch.  Mmmmmmm, mmmmm ... yummy for my tummy.  It makes my tummy do a little happy dance.

Now, you can certainly seed your own pomegranate ... click here for a great tutorial on that.  One word of caution on this topic ... do heed the advice to do this with the pomegranate underwater.  I may have learned this lesson the hard way.  I plead the 5th.

And this may .. or may not ... be why I now cheat with this little task.  See?  Beautiful pomegranate seeds all already out of their pomegranate wrapper.  Ahhhhhhh, you gotta love Trader Joe's.



Aren't the colors of this salad gorgeous?  I think so! ... Little currant, pomegranate, and mint leaf gems sprinkled throughout to make your eyes ... and tummy ... happy.  So go ahead ... grab some pomegranate seeds and fresh mint and give your tummy a little happy dance!




Couscous Salad with Pomegranate Seeds & Mint
Source:  Adapted from Cooking Light magazine
(Printable recipe)
Ingredients
1 (10 oz.) box plain couscous
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. pomegranate seeds (approximately 1/2 of a pomegranate)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
About 1/3 c. chopped fresh mint
About 1/3 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 T. dried currants


Directions
1.  Prepare couscous according to package directions.  Fluff couscous with a fork and place in a large bowl.  Mix in remaining ingredients.

2.  Chill for about an hour prior to serving.

Note:  This is also wonderful served immediately, while still hot, as a side dish.

Enjoy!



12 comments

  1. What a beautiful salad! I love how you use the convenience of the prepackaged seeds; that's totally how I would do it too! Great choice for this month's Eating the Alphabet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks delicious! I have never thought about putting pomegranate in couscous, it looks like a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This salad is lovely. I'm a huge fan on Quinoa - I'd like to try this with Quinoa rather than couscous. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmm, looks and sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This salad looks delicious! Fresh and healthy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, that looks fabulous!

    Absolutely love it if you could link up this (and a couple other recipes) to Wonderful Food Wednesday at http://www.athometake2.com.

    Hope to see you there!
    Jessica @ At Home Take 2

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Tracey: This couscous salad looks delicious! And now I know where to find easy-to-use pomegranate seeds--thank you for the tip.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love this slightly different twist for couscous which is served frequently at my house.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a creative combination! I'd love if you came and shared at my healthy food link-party! http://www.youngnesters.net/2012/09/snacktime-saturday-week-3.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. We would just love this Salad, it perfect for fall. Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  11. This sounds amazing and is really quite beautiful! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Pinning...

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments ~ I read and appreciate each and every one. When you choose to leave a comment, we collect and display your name, as provided by you. Clicking "publish" to submit your comment indicates your explicit consent for name collection. If you click the "notify me" checkbox {which is optional}, your e-mail is also collected. Clicking the "notify me" checkbox indicates your explicit consent for e-mail collection. Thank you so much for visiting The Kitchen is My Playground!

Blog Design: Tracimichele.com. Powered by Blogger.