Happy Father's Day!

Tell me, have you tried couscous? I know in many parts of the world it's a common but not so much where I live. The first time I made it for my family years ago, they really didn't know what it was. Actually, my youngest sister asked me what it was and I told her it was something like "baby rice". She loved this and thought it was the cutest thing ever.

So I was thinking a fresh and colorful Summer salad might be a great addition to your day today. And did you know it could be so easy to prep? Forget pasta and rice. Compared to cooking them, couscous is almost an instant food. Okay, not really but I can’t believe how easy it is.

So what do you do with couscous? There are like so many possibilities here. I went with a salad for this recipe and you guys are going to love it. It was just one of those days that needed the smell of veggies roasting in the oven, you know what I mean? Everyone loves that smell even those that don’t eat their veggies.

I am kind of addicted to balsamic and I not only roasted the veggies in it but then I added more to the finished salad. It’s so good. I couldn’t help it. Just trust me on this, you need this salad in your life. It is crazy delicious if I do say so myself.

Balsamic Roasted Veggie and Chickpea Couscous Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 large or 2 small zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 bunch freah basil leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C). Toss chickpeas, zucchini, onions, and garlic, and half of the basil with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3 tablespoons of balsamic. Salt and pepper to taste then bake for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
While that is in, bring water to a boil and add couscous. Cover and remove from heat and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and add roasted veggies and chickpeas, tomatoes, and remaining olive oil, balsamic, and basil. Toss and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve hot or cold.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain: