Couscous Salad With Turmeric, Chickpea and Tomato

By Genevieve Ko

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 5(398)
Notes: Read community notes

Turmeric highlights the golden hue of couscous while adding a welcome bit of flavor. The grains are paired with tomatoes, which have been left to sit in red wine and vinegar, infusing them with flavor and making the dressing even more juicy for the couscous-chickpea mix. If you want the onion to be nice and crisp and to take its raw edge off, put the slices in a bowl of ice and water before you cook the couscous. Drain them right before tossing them in. You can add even more crunch by topping the salad with sliced celery or chiles, if you like your food spicy. Either thinly sliced fresh chiles, such as fresno or jalapeños, or preserved ones, like peppadews or hot cherry, work well.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

¼teaspoon ground turmeric
¼cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
½teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1¾cups couscous (10 ounces)
⅓cup red-wine vinegar, plus more to taste
Black pepper
3medium ripe tomatoes, diced (2½ cups)
1(15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
5ounces baby arugula
4ounces feta cheese, crumbled (½ cup)
Thinly sliced celery, or fresh or jarred chile peppers, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Combine the turmeric, 2 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon salt with 2 cups water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the couscous, cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, whisk the vinegar with the remaining ¼ cup oil and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper in a very large bowl. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and stir to coat.
Step 3
When the couscous is ready, scrape with a fork to fluff into bits. Pour into the tomato mixture, along with the onion, arugula and half the cheese. Fold gently until well mixed, then season to taste with salt and pepper, and dress with additional oil and vinegar, if desired.
Step 4
Divide among dishes and top with the remaining feta and the celery or chile, if using.

Tip

It’s fastest and easiest to rinse grains in a sieve. Simply run cold water over them while gently shaking the sieve, then gently shake dry. It’s important to rinse grains to clean them and in the case of quinoa, to remove saponins, which can leave a bitter or soapy aftertaste. As it’s also tough to get flavors into grains once they’re cooked, it's a good idea to season them with salt at this point.

Ratings

5 out of 5

398 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

FRITZ5 years ago

Like pasta, couscous is a processed grain product, but it is less refined than pasta. Couscous is made from crushed durum wheat and not the ground durum wheat used to make pasta. But those little couscous granules are not 'whole' grains like barley, brown rice, or millet.

Jordan B4 years ago

I used a shallot instead of a red onion and added it to the vinegar mixture with the tomatoes and chickpeas. Seems to have moderated the shallot a bit, in a different way than soaking in water. I also added some fresh mint and cucumber at the end. Made for a nice dinner on a hot summer evening.

betsy4 years ago

Cut back on olive oil Don’t use pearl couscous

Terry Moran5 years ago

This was a great salad, but I think next time I will only use maybe 2.5 ounces of baby arugula. The full 5 oz almost overwhelmed the turmeric couscous, sort of like an arugula salad with couscous.

David G3 years ago

Turmeric could be increased. Israeli cous cous was a winner and goat cheese worked as a substitute

Voyageur2123 years ago

I added the onion to the vinegar mixture ahead of time, per tip of Jordan B. Also used Italian parsley instead of arugula. Delicious, summery side dish.

Joan1 week ago

For me, I wanted more of a arugula salad with couscous and less a couscous salad with arugula. I decreased the couscous to 1 cup (will go to 3/4 next time) and used a 5 oz. box of arugula. Still would like more arugula. It's a satisfying salad!

Jen R.1 week ago

I agree that the turmeric could definitely be increased. This salad tasted great right after I made it but it wasn’t as flavorful the next day. I wouldn’t recommend making this salad in advance or storing it very long as a result

Joan2 weeks ago

1 cup couscous, more arugula

Joan1 month ago

Use only one cup of couscous and lots more arugula, at least one box

j910 months ago

I love this dish. I add Moroccan spiced tofu for extra protein and fresh avocado. Super versatile

David McBride1 year ago

I followed the recipe with the following exceptions: 1. I used sliced grape tomatoes instead of full size. 2. I added the onion to the dressing, as suggested in the comments. 3. I used less arugula, as suggested in the comments, but when I was putting away the leftovers, I noticed that there was a lot of couscous left, so I went ahead and mixed the remainder of the arugula into the leftover salad. Tasted great. Will do it again.

Fa1 year ago

I used regular couscous as per the recipe and it came out great! I did add more olive oil and vinegar and served on a bed of arugula fresh from my garden. A keeper. Oh, and I used at least a teaspoon of turmeric - it is so good for you and so tasty that more is almost always better.

Eileen1 year ago

I made two slight adjustments. Swapped quinoa for the couscous and swapped roasted nuts for the celery. Delicious and will make it again soon.

churchim8082 years ago

This makes fabulous leftovers. I store the arugula separate from the rest of the salad. For lunch I combine a serving of both and a pouch of tuna. I double the arugula because I like a 50/50 ratio of arugula to everything else.

Paul Woolf2 years ago

Simple and easy. Make arugula 2-3 oz or overwhelms.

Julia2 years ago

I used pickled red onions, Parmesan instead of feta, doubled the turmeric, and added fresh mint. So good!

Deejay2 years ago

This is a great salad and endlessly customizable. I followed a number of tips from readers—from marinating the onion in the red wine vinegar to tame its bite to adding in cucumber and parsley because I couldn’t find arugula at the supermarket. This would be great topped with grilled chicken in the summer or served with roasted chicken shawarma now. Another winner from Genevieve Ko!

Kathi2 years ago

Absolutely delicious! I stuck to the recipe, except I let the onions sit in the vinegar a bit, added only half and served the rest to be added as desired. I did not mix the couscous part with the lettuce, but served on top of greens. I'm glad I did it that way, as this was enough for three meals for myself and my husband, and it would have been less appetizing with wilted arugula mixed in. My husband added chicken and more feta, and I added cottage cheese, to up the protein.

Susan Brown2 years ago

Doubled the oil and vinegar, increased the feta, decreased the arugula ... looking forward to topping with the chili peppers!

Big Lar2 years ago

Wow. So much tastier than I expected. Late summer tomatoes really made this!

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