This salad was delicious. It tasted as good as it looks. This is probably only the second thing I’ve ever eaten with dried currents. The first being Zuni Cafe’s bread salad with roast chicken. I was always curious about israeli couscous and finally looked it up. It was made as a rice substitute when rice was scarce. Interesting.
Inspired by Chloe’s Kitchen.
Ingredients:
makes 5 servings
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cups ½ inch cubes peeled butternut squash
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups Israeli pearl couscous
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup arugula
- ¼ cup currants
- ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, toss 2 tablespoons oil with squash and season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet and roast for 30 to 35 minutes until squash is fork tender, turning once or twice with a spatula. Let cool.
In the meantime, combine 1 tablespoon oil, couscous, 1 teaspoon salt, and broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Toss couscous with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet to cool. Not sure if this step is necessary, especially if serving the next day.
Toss cooled couscous with cooled butternut squash, arugula, currants, almonds, and mint. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.
