mediterranean chickpea, feta, and pomegranate couscous salad

*checks calendar* it’s… almost february? 2022?

…how?

feels rude that this newly crisp, fresh-pages year is already barreling on by whether we’re with her or not, but i guess if we’re not hanging on tight we’re going to get left in the snow/dust. the summation of my ‘year’ so far is: found out i had covid on new year’s day so it started off on real tragically hilarious note, spent the next 10 days taking up a new hobby of crossword puzzles, pressing my nose against the window to see the outdoors, sleeping for 13 hours a night, making a lot of couscous salad (we’ll get to that in a bit), heading back to work to grind through the end of our fiscal year, making tangerine mimosas with a friend, warning up my bones with a bowl of ramen while snuggled close to a countertop, and booking a trip home to minnesota largely because i need a haircut and finding a new person to do it is actually the worst.

on the whole it’s been mostly good and pretty uneventful and that feels like a very obvious metaphor for life. making notes to fill the next month with some curveballs and excitement (if you have any suggestions, please leave below because let me tell you that ordering two new york times crossword puzzle books aint it.)

circling back (ha…. ha. how sick are we of this current culture?) to this couscous salad, i made the first batch while quarantined and have been making it every week on loop since then. it scratches that not-sad-desk-lunch itch for me in a major way because the flavors are incredible, it’s not boring in the least, and i can make enough for the week to stretch from monday to sunday without it getting droopy in the fridge.

it’s basically a ‘pasta salad’ but using pearl couscous; i like it because it gives the salad texture, but you’re not having to stab around huge penne noodles that i find get a bit too dry when you’re pretending they’re a part of salad. we’re adding chickpeas for protein, feta for tang, cucumber for a cool crisp bite, red onion, pomegranate and dried apricots for a little sweetness and chew, and a super simple red wine vinaigrette. toss it all over greens and fresh herbs and you’ve got a daymaker in roughly 15 minutes.

a few things before we get started:

- this is a super quick, super easy pasta-ish salad that can be served warm, room temperature, cold - however you’d like it. it’s a superb lunch option, great for meal prep, or if you, like me, find yourself shoveling dinner over the sink because making yourself a bowl and sitting at the table just feels like a bit too much these days.
- this is a vegetarian dish, but could easily be made vegan without the feta cheese! the tangy, creamy bite is lovely, but do what works for you.
- you could absolutely add a protein to this dish! shrimp or chicken would be great.
- the fresh herbs MAKE this dish. little crisp bites of parsley and the burst from the mint elevate this salad from good to wowwwowowoowowow.
- this will keep in the fridge for a week. i used arugula for my greens, and i find that it holds up a little bit better and doesn’t get as wilty as spinach does.

mediterranean chickpea, feta, and pomegranate couscous salad
makes: 4-6 servings
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes

for the salad:
1c pearl couscous
4c greens (arugula and spinach work well here)
1c chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3/4c feta cheese
3/4c pomegranate seeds
1/2c dried apricots, diced
1/2 a red onion, diced
2 mini cucumbers, diced
1/4c fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/4c fresh parsley, chopped

for the dressing:
1/4 olive oil
1/4c red wine vinegar
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper

cook the couscous per package instructions.

while the couscous is cooking, whisk the ingredients for the dressing. in a large bowl, add the ingredients for the salad. add the cooked couscous and toss everything to combine. pour the dressing into the bowl, and toss again to coat.

you can eat this salad cold or at room temperature; both are delicious. the salad will keep in the fridge for one week.