Southwestern Couscous Salad

I found this delicious recipe on the Whole Foods website. It's such a simple and tasty dish that is perfect for summer. Almost like a different spin on my corn & black bean salsa. You can eat it on a bed of greens, as a side, and it's even great in a wrap with some spinach and hummus.

Southwestern Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous (*use quinoa to make it gluten free!)

1 1/2 cup black beans (or 1 15-oz can), drained and rinsed 

1 cup fresh corn kernels (2 ears), I cheated & used a can of no salt added corn

1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1-2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 zucchini, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup lime juice (or more to taste)

3/4 tsp chili powder

(note: I thought the pumpkin seeds and raw zucchini would be strange at first, but it was so perfect and fresh! Def don't skip em!)

Directions:

Get to chopping! Chop the cilantro, tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper. 

Place your vegetables in a very large mixing bowl along with the pepitas, corn, and black beans.

Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.
Let stand 5 minutes.
It should look like this!

Fluff couscous with a fork and toss into the bowl with all the vegetables.
Add the lime juice and chili powder and mix together.

This makes a HUGE amount of food. I believe it serves 8. The bf and I ate this stuff for days! I'm actually surprised at how long it lasted, we rarely have leftovers because we usually we can't stop eating! What can I say, we are true vegan fat kids. But this recipe is very healthy, low fat, low sodium, and high in fiber! It would be perfect for any summer barbeque that vegans and non vegans will all enjoy.