This colorful, whole wheat cous cous salad is bursting with flavor and nutrients, making it a scrumptious favorite at our house. The secret to bringing out the fullness of flavor includes two easy techniques of preparing the veggies that bring their sweetness to life and complement the salty-savory components of the feta, olives and artichoke hearts. The light, lemony vinaigrette adds just a touch of brightness and tang that makes it a truly refreshing dish.
With only 1 tbsp of high-grade olive oil, it’s a lower calorie vinaigrette. I’m a big believer that a little goes a long ways. I enjoy creating recipes that find the balance with flavor-enhancing ingredients without unnecessarily heavy caloric content. While olive oil is healthy, oftentimes I find some salads to be a little oilier than I’d prefer. If you’ve ever had a salad visibly drenched in oil, you know what a turn off that can be! The only thing this salad is drenched in is nutritious deliciousness.
Sweet. Tender. Depth of flavor. If it surprises you that I’m describing kale, keep reading because there are some tricks to working with these greens that thrust them into the category of truly tasty, not just an ingredient included for the sake of being trendy. Kale sometimes gets a reputation for being tough, fibrous and bitter…that’s before you’ve gotten to know it. With a little TLC, and the right pick of kale type, you’ve got at vitamin-packed flavor jackpot on your hands.
Tuscan kale is a little sweeter than some of its cousins. And let’s be honest, just the name itself draws you in; it makes me think of the sweeping beauty of Tuscan countrysides. I’ve visited Italy, but I’ve not been to Tuscany, so for now, I’ll settle for eating my Tuscan kale with the dream of enjoying some gourmet Italian cuisine and spa treatment in that region someday…
Speaking of spa treatment, massaging the kale with lemon juice and olive oil is one technique that softens it up and brings it’s inner sweetness to the surface. Yes, you heard that correctly. Might sound a little strange, but massaging the kale in a bowl with the oil, salt, and acidic lemon juice breaks up the plant fibers and tenderizes the leaves, releasing it’s sweet potential. I don’t know about you, but I too feel just a little sweeter towards the world after I get a massage. Just sayin’!
Furthermore, regularly consuming kale is essentially giving yourself a good ‘ole spa treatment from the inside out considering it’s excellent for your skin and hair. There’s a good reason it’s called the “queen of greens.” The high content of Vitamins A, C, K and antioxidants are fabulous for your complexion along with facilitating some luscious locks. Vitamin C strengthens your roots and increases circulation which helps support hair growth. Plus, vitamin K is a great remedy for those dark circles we get under our sleep deprived eyes as moms. These are just a few of the many health benefits of regular kale consumption – there are many more!
The last technique in this recipe for sweetening up those veggies in your salad is roasting. Oven roasting the bell pepper and onion is not only easy, but it enhances the natural sugars in the vegetables. Coating with a little olive oil cooking spray and a sprinkle of salt, pepper and garlic powder capitalizes on the caramelizing process and adds to the depth of flavor. I like to use an olive oil spray as it gets the job done without excessive amounts of oil. Using the spray rations it out a bit while still supporting the roasting process. Roasted veggies are a great ingredient to add into salads, side dishes or sandwiches, and is an “easy as pie” technique to master.
Now on to the massaging and roasting…
Serves 6 (1 cup servings) / Prep & roasting time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 c. Tuscan kale (also called lacinato kale), stems removed, finely chopped (time saver: buy pre-chopped)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat cous cous
1/2 c. feta cheese
1 c. artichoke hearts
1 roasted red pepper (1/2 c. roasted, chopped)
1/3 red onion (1/4 c. roasted, chopped)
1/4 c. pitted, quartered kalamata olives (7-8 olives)
olive oil cooking spray
garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Vinaigrette:
1 tbsp quality olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic (time-saver: use jarred)
1/2 tsp whole grain mustard
1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Remove the seeds and trim the inside of the pepper. Cut the pepper into 3-4 pieces and thinly slice the onions.
- For easy clean-up, line a roasting tray or cookie sheet with foil and coat with thin layer of olive oil spray. Add veggies to the tray and coat both sides lightly with the spray, then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder.
- Roast the veggies in the oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes and flip with a spatula halfway through. The vegetables are done when they are tender, slightly browned, and the skin of the pepper will start to blister.
- Cook your whole wheat cous cous with a one to one ratio of chicken broth to dry cous cous. (I use Trader Joe’s brand). Usually the recipe calls for water and butter, but I like to swap those out for chicken broth with adds more flavor than water and adds salt content without the butter since fat content will be added later with the olive oil in the dressing and veggies, and then the feta at the end.
- Bring 1 cup of broth to a boil, then add the cous cous, mix with a fork, cover and let sit and set aside. Fluff again before adding to the salad.
- Cut out the stem through the kale leaf. If using pre-chopped, cut out any pieces that have stem remnants. Finely chop the kale.
- Mix the vinaigrette in a large bowl and add the kale, massaging for 1-2 minutes.
- Dice the roasted veggies and trim any longer leaves of the artichoke hearts. I like to leave just a little bit of the leaves, otherwise they give a courser texture than I usually like, but that is a matter of preference…add the veggies and artichoke hearts to the kale and vinaigrette and mix.
- Quarter the pitted kalamatas and add to the bowl.
- Mix in the cous cous.
- Add in the feta, mix, serve and enjoy.
Calorie content: Makes 6 cups salad/ 201 cal per cup
1 cup cous cous dry (660 calories) = 2 1/2 cups cooked
1 cup artichoke hearts (155 cal)
1 red bell pepper (24 cal)
1/3 red onion (1/4 c. roasted, chopped = (22 cal)
1/2 c. feta = (140 cal)
1 tsp garlic (5 calories)
1/2 tsp stone ground mustard (2.5 cal)
3 tbsp lemon juice (17 cal)
1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
olive oil cooking spray (60 cal)
1 cup chicken broth in cous cous (5 cal)