Oh man. You know, summer grilling/roasting/eating/general tomfoolery is my favorite. In southern california we are blessed with pretty epic weather for 99% of the year and even though May can be a bit blah the sun still peeks out and days like today warrant fire and vegetables. Our good friend Billy is turning 30 and he’s brining and grilling a 33 lb WHOLE piggy. So, the side dish I’m bringing for the hostess Kiley has got to be equally as fabulous. I’m thinking veggie couscous with a lemon vinaigrette. Let’s get cooking!

The Goods

• 2 cups uncooked couscous
• 2 cups water (or broth)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 small zucchini (or any summer squash)
• 1 onion
• 2 lemons
• olive oil
• dijon mustard
• S&P and garlic powder
• If you stick with water or veggie stock this dish is vegan/vegetarian

Annnnnnd go….

1. Cook up the couscous. Generally you boil equal cups water (in this case 2 cups) and add in the same amount of couscous (again 2 cups), take it off the heat and let sit 4-5 minutes then fluff with a fork until your little heart is content.
2. Chop up the veggies (bigger than a dice, smaller than a large chunk)
3. Heat a pan (I used a nonstick pan) on med/hi heat and give her a couple o’ swirls of olive oil
4. Add veggies and immediately hit it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Always, ALWAYS, season each layer of food you add to the pan. Your guests, your future judges on Chopped and your future children will thank me. So for that, you’re welcome.
5. Once they are sauteed just until soft (mine had some random brown bits so I went with that) add them and the couscous to a large bowl. Mix it up a bit. Now, dressing time.
6. Juice two lemons and make sure to remove the seeds. Nobody wants to eat lemon seeds. If they did, you’d probably owe them some money to visit a dentist and we do not have time for that.
7. In a vessel (glass measuring cup, small bowl, a dressing maker…) mix 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, S&P and garlic powder. Now, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and whisk away. Whisk. Whisk. Whisk. Now taste.
8. Don’t dunk your hand in there like a crazed dressing cave woman (or man). Use a spoon. Like the pros do. Resist the urge to double dip said spoon. Trust me, as you get into cooking you end up using lots of spoons and your dear husband (or wife) ends up cleaning a lot of spoons but you know what? The product is usually yummy.
9. Feel free to double the dressing or add other goodies. It’s really the perfect base.
10. Pour dressing over couscous and veggies and stir it up. Best served soon after but it’s always yummy for left overs.

See. There you have it. The perfect delish veggie couscous salad. Now I have to go eat some pork. Cheers until next post.

xoxo Shawna