Black Bean & Couscous Salad
A filling yet low-calorie black bean and couscous salad you can enjoy any time of day.
Couscous is one of the easiest and quickest grains (it's actually a seed) that you can make. It only takes a few minutes and it's incredibly versatile. When you combine it with beans and southwest spices, it becomes the backbone to a filling and tasty salad that you can eat warm or cold.
This salad recipe also allows me to enjoy a touch of my favourite type of food, Mexican, with it's cilantro and cumin flavour profile. I have to admit, I've had more than one serving of this in a day, but at just 388 calories, there's nothing to feel guilty about.
One of the great things about this recipe is that it can be easily adjusted to include different beans, additional vegetables, whatever your taste buds crave.
I've literally had this black bean and couscous salad recipe for breakfast, lunch, dinner and I've even taken a few spoonful whenever I needed a quick snack. It never stays in my fridge for long, but it would last 3 or 4 days easily when refrigerated.
Ingredients
(Makes 4 servings)
1 cup uncooked couscous
1-1/4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 lime
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small sweet onion, diced (or chopped green onion)
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced (or mix red, yellow and green bell peppers)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
1 cup frozen peaches & cream corn kernels, thawed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt & pepper to taste
Optional additional ingredients not included in calorie count:
broccoli florets
chickpeas
steamed rice
Directions
In a microwave-safe container, heat the chicken broth to boiling. Remove from the microwave and stir in the uncooked couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.
While waiting for the couscous, drain and rinse the black beans and thaw the frozen corn kernels. I typically place these in a colander together and run them under hot water until heated through. Drain thoroughly.
In a large bowl, create a dressing by combining the oil, lime juice, vinegar, spices and herbs. Add black beans, corn and other vegetables then mix to coat.
When the couscous is ready, fluff with a fork then mix into the black beans and corn.
Serve right away while it's still warm, or refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavours mix and develop before serving cold.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 388 | total fat = 7.68g | saturated fat = 1.64g | cholesterol = 5mg | sodium (using Knorr instant chicken stock) = 1,086.25mg | carbohydrates = 64.79g | dietary fibre = 10.66g | sugars = 14.15g | protein = 15.7g
