Couscous salad with beets and feta

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of salads, but I'm also a huge fan of finding and trying new salad dishes. I originally found this recipe online, but had to tweak it quite a bit because I didn't have a lot of the ingredients (and am too poor to go buy them). Here's the Alicia version:

What you'll need:

1-2 cups couscous

1/2 cup chopped, canned pickled beets

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1/4 cup thinly chopped red onion

1/4 cup feta cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

salt and peper to taste

What you need to do:

1. Cook the couscous, following the directions on the package. I said 1-2 cups because it really depends on what you're making this for - generally when I make any kind of grain salad (couscous, quinoa, ferro, orzo) I make a large batch so I can have it for the week. I usually have about 3/4 - 1 cup of cooked couscous per serving.

Rule of thumb for couscous to water ratio is
1 cup couscous : 1.25 cup water

You want the couscous to be light and fluffy...not thick and gummy

I made 2 cups and clearly it goes a long way. No problem though, store
it in the fridge with a few drops of olive oil and it'll last all week!

 2. Add the cucumber, beets, onions, and feta cheese to a bowl.

3. Whisk the olive oil and red wine vinegar together in a small bowl, and add salt and pepper to taste. Don't overdo it on the red wine vinegar - too much can leave a sour taste.

4. Add the couscous, and drizzle the dressing on top. Toss with a fork to combine.

Such a refreshing take on the traditional mixed greens!

There are so many variations to this salad, you really can add/remove anything you want. The original recipe used green onions (instead of red), and quinoa (instead of couscous). Next time I think I would add pitted black olives and some lemon juice in the dressing. 

Happy Tuesday!

A.C