An easy and healthy vegetarian salad loaded with couscous, colourful vegetables and chickpeas dressed in a curry scented apple cider dressing that boasts an exotic flavour.

What’s in this salad

Couscous with shredded carrots, red bell peppers, cucumbers, protein-packed chickpeas, green onions and cilantro are tossed in a curry-scented apple cider dressing made with olive oil, garlic, curry and other seasonings. When tossed all together, the couscous absorbs the exotic essence and warm colours of the dressing.

With its bold hues of gold, orange, red and green, this salad undoubtedly gains attention from everyone. It takes only one forkful to experience the unexpected curry scented flavour that will awaken taste buds. It’s a crowd-pleasing salad and everyone always comes back for more. That means you’ll come back to this recipe all the time!

Healthy and filling, this couscous salad is perfect for packed lunches. It can easily be transported in a jar or a container and will surely power you through the day. Not just for lunches, this salad is also great as a side dish with dinner, as a main course for a vegetarian or to take along to a potluck picnic. You can easily make this salad vegan by swapping the honey for agave syrup.

How to make this salad

Assemble all the ingredients.

Prepare the salad ingredients, mix up the salad dressing and toss everything in a bowl.

Why you’ll love this salad

Easily portable
Quick & easy to make with common ingredients
Flavourful, colourful and nutritious
Loaded with fresh vegetables
Vegetarian with a vegan option
Ideal for lunch, side dish, main dish or potluck
Eaten with a fork or a spoon either cold or at room temperature

About some of the main ingredients:

Curry Powder is a spice blend consisting of a few spices, including anti-inflammatory turmeric which gives curry its bright golden-orange colour. It has a deep earthy flavour, often a spicy aroma and is traditionally used in Indian dishes.
Couscous are small beads of dried and cracked pasta made from semolina which is a type of flour made from durum wheat. It cooks in minutes and will absorb flavours and colours when enhanced with ingredients like those in this salad. See tips below: How to make fluffy couscous.
Chickpeas come with a range of health benefits; high in fiber and protein and also contain a number of vitamins and minerals. A healthy replacement for meat in any diet, including for vegetarians and vegans. They taste great with a mild nutty flavour and slightly grainy texture.
Apple Cider Vinegar is popular because it claims to provide all sorts of health benefits. Some of those benefits include weight loss, reducing cholesterol, lowering blood sugar and improving symptoms of diabetes, to name a few. I always like to use Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar which I can find at many grocery stores.
Cilantro (also known as coriander) comes from the coriander plant which is related to parsley. It enhances the flavour of dishes and offers a wide range of health benefits. For most people cilantro has mildly spicy and fresh citrus-like pleasant flavour. If you don’t like cilantro then use the parsley option given in the recipe.

How to make fluffy couscous

Cook couscous in a proper water-to-couscous ratio as it absorbs all the liquid and is not drained once cooked.
Cook couscous off the heat in boiling hot water in a covered pot.
It takes only 5 minutes for the tiny granules of couscous to soften and cook.
Gently fluff the cooked couscous (which may look dense when cooked) with a fork to break up the clumps.

When you crave something that’s veggie based, this delicious unique salad is perfect as a main dish or side dish. Make your week flow beautifully by being prepared with this make-ahead salad that you can grab and go.

Recipe

Curried Couscous Salad

Couscous combined with carrots, red bell peppers, cucumbers, chickpeas, fresh green onions and cilantro is tossed with a curry scented apple cider dressing. Vegetarian and easy-to-make.

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Salad

¾ cup couscous
2 cups shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
1 580mL tin chickpeas rinsed and drained
1 ½ cups diced red bell pepper (about 1 large)
1 ½ cups diced English cucumber unpeeled and seeded (about 1 medium)
4 sprigs green onions white and green parts, sliced thinly
⅓ cup cilantro or parsley chopped, plus more for garnish

Curry Dressing

⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon liquid honey or agave syrup
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions

In a medium saucepan add couscous and 1¼ cups water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat then immediately remove from heat. Keep covered and let sit off the heat for 5 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Remove lid, fluff couscous with a fork and let cool completely.
Shred the carrots on the large holes of a box grater. Into a large salad bowl add the cooled couscous, shredded carrot, red peppers, cucumbers, chickpeas, green onions, cilantro (or parsley).
In a small bowl whisk the dressing ingredients; olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey (or agave syrup), garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, curry power and turmeric. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine well.
Refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours or overnight to allow the flavours to meld.