Rainbow Couscous Salad

Hi guys! I made this delicious recipe for dinner last night for a light summer meal. It's full of vegetables and a light herby vinaigrette, and my family loved it so much that there's no more left!  It can be served as the main dish or a side dish, and the leftovers make a great lunch.

 

Rainbow Couscous Salad:

Salad:

• 2 grilled ears of corn, with corn tiblets (?) cut off (remove the corn from the cob with a knife)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup radishes, sliced
• 1 grilled leek, white parts removed and chopped finely
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (~1 1/2 cups of black beans)
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 cup water

Dressing:

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped finely
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp pepper, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Directions:  Wash and prepare all of your veggies.  Add veggies and black beans to a big bowl and stir together.  Cook your couscous according to package directions and add to your veggies.  In a small bowl of a glass jar (with a lid), add olive oil, lime juice, maple syrup, and cilantro.  Whisk or shake.  Add spices to taste.  Once you're satisfied with your dressing, add it to your salad and stir really well.  Serve chilled.  It's best when it has marinated for a couple of hours or overnight. Serves: 4-5.

Step By Step Photos:

Start with the corn:

Add the cherry tomatoes:

Add the radishes:

Add your leeks:

Add your black beans:

Add the avocado:

Cook the couscous:

Add and stir:

Gather the dressing ingredients:

Whisk vigorously!

Add the dressing into the salad:

As I now have to in the Garrett household, I immediately set some aside for my lunch (along with some tofu and blueberries).  It was a good thing too, because the rest of the couscous salad was consumed that night!  By the way I ate this with a Larabar (I think Cherry Pie or Apple Pie). 

I must share with you my regular breakfast scene!  In the bowl there is cereal, banana, blueberries, chia seeds, and peanut butter (yum!) and beside it is black tea.  And a good book!

I want to tell you guys that I haven't been doing my regular workouts in the evening because I am taking a Fitness class every weekday morning at Paideia's Summer Camp.  From about 10-12 (with a 20 minute break in the middle), we do running intervals, burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, etc.  After the break, we do strength training (we switch between arms one day and legs the next, but do abs everyday).  Some mornings we play badminton, which is fun.  It's a great class and a good workout, and I do have muscle soreness.  Because of this, I do not workout in the evenings as well, in fear of overdoing it.  My muscles can only take so much tearing, and they need time to repair.  After the workouts, I always make sure to eat a good lunch, such as the one above  (completed with a Larabar).  I'll try to post what I've been packing for lunch because I've been taking loads of pictures and I should share them (so I can delete them from my phone...)

Have you ever had to remind yourself to hold back from exercising too much, even if you wanted to?

Have a nice day!