I like to have fun with the holidays and use them as an opportunity to make something fun and new sometimes. This year, I went with a Moroccan-inspired Christmas menu. I couldn't decide whether I wanted a cold salad or a hot salad. Because spinach and couscous goes well with both! Although I eventually decided to wilt the spinach. Maybe more so because I didn't have the patience for it to cool off before dinner. This is a salad that could be served chilled as well, though. Just don't sauté the spinach and refrigerate the couscous for an hour or up to even a couple of days ahead of time.
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Since I couldn't decide whether to make this hot or cold, I ended up adding in the spinach and then sautéing the entire dish again. You could easily serve this cold (which I also did do as leftovers for the next couple of days) or add the spinach into the rice cooker with the couscous and cranberries so that they could all cook together. I also managed to get virtually no photos of this. Which does happen sometimes because I'm balancing enjoying the holidays with documenting the dishes! And, at the risk of being one of those people who's holding up dinner because I have to grab a quick photo of it, there are only a few final product photos.
Variations of Couscous Salad
Couscous Salad is a relatively quick and easy dish to toss together. I don't make nearly as much couscous as I'd like to because, quite frankly, it's not the easiest thing to find in Wisconsin. Although I very much enjoy a fun and interesting Salad. I'm almost never going to toss lettuce on a plate and drown it in dressing that would probably survive the apocalypse. I'm more of a quinoa salad kind of person with fresh fruits and vegetables tossed into a medley of lentils or on the side of tofu or tuna steaks.
This Couscous Salad consists of wilted spinach, cranberries, white wine vinegar, smoked paprika, cloves, allspice, ginger, and pearl couscous. It took me forever to decide if I wanted to make this a cold or a warm salad. I eventually decided to wilt the spinach and serve it hot. Although, you can easily skip sautéing the spinach and chill the couscous.
1tbsp.dry white wine(I used sauvignon blanc) or white wine vinegar
dashsmoked paprika
dashcloves
dashallspice
dashsalt
dashpepper
2c.spinach
Instructions
Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker. I like to start with the larger produce and then add the smaller ingredients. Top with the spices. And then add the lentils and water.This cooks the larger vegetables on the bottom, while dispersing the flavor profiles in the middle. Although with some mixing, this really doesn't matter all that much. Everything will eventually cook together!You can either add in the spinach now and have it cooked for a warm salad. Or add it in afterwards for a cold salad.
Press the cook button on the rice cooker. While lentils aren't rice, it does cook the same and oftentimes better than rice in a rice cooker. It typically takes 30-45 minutes.Alternatively you can simmer on the stove. Add all of the ingredients to a pot, bring uncovered to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Stir occasionally and test often. Turn off heat, add lid, and let sit another 5-10 minutes.
When the lentils are fully cooked, fluff with a wooden spoon and serve. Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
Cranberries are a binding agent. They tend to get spongy when you cook them. You can roast them separately on a baking sheet or, if you can handle uncooked cranberries, just chop them up and toss them in raw. Alternatively, dried craisins are great, especially if you can find them sweetened with apple juice instead of sugar.
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