It’s been a while since I’ve been so obsessed with a recipe that I’ve made it multiple times in a month. Enter this Kale & Couscous Salad from Ambitious Kitchen with a zesty (not quite spicy) lemon vinaigrette. I originally wanted to make this because I was curious about the addition of pickled red onions (which I usually have a batch of in my fridge), and then was just blown away by how well all the flavours and textures go together.

It’s a bit labour intensive because of all the components involved, but I find it’s do-able on a weeknight if I prep at least one of these three things the day before: cooking the couscous, chopping the kale or making the vinaigrette. Even without making one of those ahead, once I get the couscous cooking (which takes almost 25 minutes), I can chop the kale, shake up the dressing and get everything else ready in that time.

Another fantastic advantage of this is it makes a huge batch and keeps well for at least 4-5 days in fridge (notes below in the directions for what I store together/separately). I’ve passed this recipe on to a few of my friends from work after they saw me eating it at lunch and everyone has loved it!

Kale & Couscous Salad with Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette

Source: Ambitious Kitchen

Ingredients

Salad Components

  • 1 cup pearl couscous, cooked according to package directions (I boil it for 25 minutes), then drained and rinsed in cold water
  • 1 bunch of kale, finely chopped
  • 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup pickled red onions, chopped (or more if you like)
  • 1/2 cup roasted nuts or seeds (pistachios, almonds, pepita or sunflower seeds are all a good idea)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese or grated parmesan (optional, still good without)

Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette

  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp sugar (or honey)
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, grated

Directions

  1. For the salad, toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If I’m making this to eat for lunches throughout the week, I’ll toss the couscous, chickpeas and red onions together and keep in a bowl in the fridge. When I’m packing everything up, I’ll add a few scoops of the couscous mixture to my container, then add the kale, nuts/seeds and cheese.
  2. For the dressing, add everything to a mason jar and shake it up until combined.
  3. Toss the salad and the dressing together when you’re ready to eat!