Couscous and Kale Summer Salads- 2 (Recipes) in 1 (Night)

After finishing up another school year with my kiddos and venturing off to the beach for a week, I've been out of my kitchen for some time now! It felt so good to get back into the swing of things. Being that it's summer and rather warm out, I wanted to put together something fresh and chilled. What better way to say summer than chilled summer salads? My first summer salad is a pearled couscous salad with spinach and  cherry tomatoes. The second salad is a cold shredded kale salad with toasted slivered almonds and dried cranberries. Both are very different but compliment one another. 

Starting with the first salad:

Pearled Couscous Spinach Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

2 boxes of plain Pearled Couscous

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (extra teaspoon for cooking)

4 cups of baby spinach; chopped

1 cup of cherry tomatoes 

1/4 cup of champagne vinegar 

Sea salt to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste 

Directions:

Cook both boxes of couscous in 5 cups of boiling water and a teaspoon of olive oil and dash of salt. Cook for 12 minutes until couscous is fluffy and water is absorbed. Set aside to cool. Once couscous is cooled, add spinach and tomatoes and vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added a spritz of lemon juice to top. Serve chilled and voila, there you have it!

Now..next fantastic salad: 

Shredded Kale Salad with Cranberries and Almonds 

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Kale, thinly chopped into small shreds

3 tbsp of distilled vinegar

1 tbsp of pure maple syrup

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup of dried cranberries

1/4 cup of slivered almonds, lightly toasted 

2 tbsp of "Go Veggie" Vegan  "Parmesan" 

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop kale and put in large bowl. Toss kale and olive oil. Add vinegar and toss. Toss in maple syrup. Add toasted almonds and cranberries. Give final toss with salt, pepper, and "parm". Serve chilled. Go ahead now and enjoy the sweet yet tanginess of this delectable summer salad.

I served both of these chilled salads with fresh summer tomatoes sliced with sea salt and pepper and roasted sweet potatoes.

For the Sweet Potatoes:

1 large sweet potato; peeled and sliced

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

2 tbsp of pure maple syrup

Sea salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

Slice one large sweet potato and toss slices with all ingredients. (I used a large zip loc bag and tossed everything around in zipped bag). Blot slices in paper towels to get excess ingredients off. Line cookie sheet with foil and lay slices on pan. Bake in oven for 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Flip halfway through. Once out they will be a little sweet and tangy with a softness down the middle. 

The best part about these two great chilled salads is that they will make great leftovers to last me throughout the week! I will definitely be enjoying these for lunch or dinner again and they will be just as delicious. 

Enjoy!

~Crago