Using couscous in this cold salad is a twist on a typical pasta salad. Canned Italian tuna is mixed with lemon zest & juice, capers, black olives, garlic and seasonings. Then cooked couscous is added and set aside to let flavors combine. Before serving, scallions, basil, lemon juice and salt are added into the salad. This salad is bright and refreshing, a great summer lunch or dinner meal.
Course
Salad
Cuisine
Mediterranean
Keyword
Couscous
Prep Time10minutes
Cook Time20minutes
Resting Time15minutes
Total Time30minutes
Servings8people
Ingredients
2cupsIsraeli couscous10-12 oz
2cans(7 oz) Italian tuna, drained and flaked
2tspgrated lemon zest2 lemons
¼cuplemon juice
½cupolive oil
3tbspcapersdrained
½cuppitted & oil cured black olives, chopped
½cupred peppersroasted
2tspminced garlic
Salt / pepper
1cupchopped scallions6-8 each
¼cupjulienned basil
Juice of ½ of a lemon
Instructions
Boil 4 cups of water, add couscous and reduce to very low heat. Cover and simmer 12 to 15 minutes, until just tender. Drain in colander if needed.
Combine tuna, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, capers, olives, peppers, garlic, 1 tsp salt and 1 ½ tsp black pepper.
Pour in hot couscous and stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Before serving, stir in scallions, basil, juice of ½ of a lemon and 1 tsp salt. Serve warm or room temperature.
Recipe Notes
I substitute tomatoes for the red peppers and I use a can of water packed not oil packed black olives. Chopped artichokes also make a nice addition. You can use fewer scallions, I only used ½ cup scallions, because I was worried that using a full cup would be too strong.