Good Food Friday

Do you ever ask yourself, "gosh, why does Kate make so many mistakes (grammatical, spelling, punctuation) in her blog posts?"Well I'll tell you why. I go to the library around 1 or later, and then I take care of business (blog, write emails, do some soul sucking (search for jobs), check up on the Tour de France) you get the picture. But after sitting at the library for a couple of hours, I'm usually starving, seeing as I haven't had lunch yet. So I rush through my post so that I can go home and stuff my face. Preferable with something as delectable as this: COUSCOUS. I know, I stuffed this down your throat about how wonderful couscous is. But just give up and try it, because it is wonderful. And what better time to have this nice, cool, flavorful salad than right now, while it's blazing hot outside. So, I present to you:

Couscous Salad w/ Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Ingredients:
1 c. shelled pecans
1-1/2 c couscous
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 c boiling water
1 c thawed frozen peas
3 scallions, very thinly sliced
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 c shredded fresh basil
1 cup dried cranberries

Lemon dressing:
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 c lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c olive oil

Toast the pecans in a shallow pan in a preheated 350 degree F. oven until very fragrant, about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool

Place couscous, cranberries, and turmeric in a large bowl. Pour in the boiling water, stir, then cover the bowl w/a large plate or foil. Let sit for 10 min. Remove cover, then fluff couscous with a fork. Cover again and let sit 5 more min.

Stir in pecans, peas, scallions, cucumbers, and basil.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously.

Try it, you'll like it!