Couscous, chickpea, red onion and cilantro salad

While travelling recently in Israel and enjoying the beautiful breakfasts offered at all the hotels, I came across this salad at the Tal Hotel in Tel Aviv. The first morning I had it I ended up thinking about it all day and hoped it would be at breakfast the next day - my wish came true. So this time I paid more attention so I could replicate it at home.

The salad is light so lends well to breakfast, but I eat it at any and all times of day. I keep a large bowl of it in my fridge and have it for lunch, as a side for dinner, an anytime snack and of course for breakfast. The flavours are so fresh it’s a feel good salad all around. Get creative and top with a grilled chicken breast, as a side with fish, add crumbled feta or enjoy it simply as it is. The flavours get better the longer it sits and keeps in the fridge up to a week. This is also a great salad for meal prep!

For the couscous

2/3 cup couscous

1 cup water

1 Tbsp extra virgin Olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Add water, olive oil and salt to a medium saucepan. Bring water mixture to boil, remove from heat and add couscous. Stir and cover. Let sit 5 minutes then fluff with a fork and set aside.

For the salad

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained and dried

1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup of red onion, minced

Zest and juice of one lemon

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp of sumac

1 tsp kosher salt

To a medium bowl add the couscous, chickpeas, red onion cilantro and lemon zest and give it a toss. Drizzle with olive oil, 1/2 of the lemon juice and sprinkle with the salt and sumac. Mix all together and adjust seasoning, lemon juice and olive oil to taste.

Image of salad from the Tal Hotel