Cous Cous Salad

Since Cai has allergies to milk and eggs (among others) when we got together with my vegetarian friend Tara, we had to cook vegan. One of our staple lunch dishes was Cous cous salad. This salad kind of takes on a life of its own but somehow always tastes delicious:) It is great for emptying the fridge of tiny bits of fruit or veggies.

Cous Cous Salad

1 cup cooked cous cous
1 can of beans (any type - kidney, black, chick pea, white.....), rinsed and drained
1 avocado, cubed
1 pear/peach, cubed
1 apple, peeled, cubed
1 tomato cubed
1 large bunch of grapes, cut in half
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley)

Dressing:
1 1/2 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or lemon juice or another type of vinegar)

Mix the dressing separately and pre-taste to check for flavor. Adjust amounts if necessary.

Add all ingredients to a large plastic container with a lid and pour on the dressing. Put the lid on and shake until it is uniformly mixed. Pre-taste to check for flavor.

Notes: I don't always have all those ingredients so I put in what I have. The idea is to balance the sweet items with the sour taste of the dressing. I've made it without the cilantro when I didn't have any and it came out just as good. I've used fresh and canned pears and peaches and they taste excellent as well. I'm sure you could add small amounts of cooked carrots/brocoli/green beans/peas as well if you had them. I don't think you can mess this up but the more you add the more salad you have so pick a LARGE container:)