Pesto Pearled Couscous Salad

Hello, hello, hello! I hope everyone has been doing well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. The past few days have been CRAZY, filled with tons of adventures: driving from New Jersey to North Carolina, moving into my first apartment, getting into the swing of grocery shopping, cleaning, etc., and soon to be starting classes! If you can’t tell by now, I’m a routine girl and feel anxious when I don’t/can’t have any sort of structure to my day. That said, the last couple of days have challenged me (in the best way) and I’ve learned to go with the flow and be okay without a routine. Above all, I’m so happy to be back at school with all of my people!

One thing that I’m going to have to get used to is cooking in a new kitchen! When I’m at my parents’ house, I am SO spoiled by the spacious kitchen and abundance of appliances that I have access to. While it’s going to take some getting used to, I couldn’t be more excited to get cookin’ and break the new kitchen in.

Onto the recipe for today! I am such a huge fan of anything pesto, so when I came across this dish, there was no question that I had to recreate it. This Pesto Pearled Couscous Salad features a basil pesto dressing, roasted chickpeas, and a nutrient-packed couscous salad! This would make a great simple lunch, side dish at a BBQ, or alongside some grilled chicken for dinner. I will definitely be making this dish often this year because it is so simple and incredibly delicious.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Happy cooking!

Ingredients

Pesto:
1 large bunch basil
Handful of baby spinach
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Salad:
1.5 cups pearled couscous
½ tbsp olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 ½ cups baby spinach, finely shredded
2 tbsp hemp seeds
¼ cup snow pea tendrils/shoots
½ cup pine nuts

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2) Place the chickpeas on the baking tray, add olive oil, salt, turmeric and paprika, toss and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes or until golden and crisp.
3) Cook pearled couscous according to the packaged instructions.
4) Add all pesto ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth, set aside.
5) Lightly toast the pine nuts by placing them in a pan over high heat, fry for approximately 2-3 minutes, tossing regularly.
6) In a large bowl, add the baby spinach, red onion, cooked couscous, and pesto, toss together.
7) Add the hemp seeds, snow pea tendrils, pine nuts, a pinch of salt and pepper and toss again.
8) Pour over the crispy spiced chickpeas and serve into bowls or as a side with a protein.

Enjoy!