Mediterranean Couscous Salad

In a medium saucepan, add 3 cups of water and the lentils. Bring to a boil and reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Taste the lentils. If they are not yet soft, cook for another couple of minutes and taste again. You might have to cook yours for as long as 15 minutes. The important thing is to cook the lentils until they are JUST barely soft or they will quickly turn to mush. Drain and rinse the lentils under cool water. Allow the lentils to drain fully while preparing the remaining ingredients.

While the lentils are cooking, heat about 1 cup of water to boiling in the microwave. Add the water to the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes to allow them to rehydrate some. Some brands of sun-dried tomatoes are particularly dry. Some are more moist. The kind I normally purchase are fairly moist, so I only let them soak about 5 minutes. Soak them for as long as you want to get your desired level of softness. When the tomatoes have rehydrated to your liking, drain off the water and add the tomatoes to a large bowl.

To the same bowl with the tomatoes, add the shallots, garlic, lemon zest, carrots, almonds, 2 pinches of salt, basil, lemon juice, and olive oil. Whisk together and set aside while you prepare the couscous.

In a medium saucepan, bring the remaining 1 1/4 cups of water to a boil then add 1/4 teaspoon salt and slowly stir in the couscous. Cover the saucepan, take it off the heat, and let it rest for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff the couscous. Let the couscous cool, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so with a fork.

Add the lentils to the bowl with the other ingredients. Add the couscous and stir to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Notes:

1. I use extra-virgin olive oil in mine. However, if you are not used to using extra-virgin olive oil, choose your brand of olive oil wisely. If you do not like the flavor of your olive oil, the other flavors in this dish will not disguise that.

2. I like tart things. I normally add 1/3 of a cup of lemon juice, which makes this dish very lemony. I think that’s a good thing. Some of you, however, may want to add a smaller amount (such as 1/4 cup of lemon juice). If needed, you can add a little more after you have tasted it at the end.

3. You can make this a day in advance and keep it refrigerated. If you do, I highly recommend that you use the full 1/3 cup of lemon juice because the flavors mellow a lot in the fridge.

4. You can find tri-colored couscous in many supermarkets nowadays. This adds a lot of festiveness to the dish. Couscous can be usually be found in the same aisle as rice or beans (or in the ethnic aisle). In my store, it is also sold in small packages in the produce section next to the packages of sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, etc.

5. Don’t want to use lentils? No problem. You can use a can of black beans, rinsed and drained.

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