Black Bean, Feta and Avocado Couscous Citrus Salad

with cilantro, cucumber, and toasted pinons

I couldn’t stop eating this salad. It was one of those find-things-in-your-fridge-and-toss-them-together kind of meals … but once I got it all together, I could not believe how good it tasted.

I was telling my yoga friend about this salad and she asked how it is that I have all these strange things “on hand”  in my kitchen …  I think what I do is I just collect interesting ingredients and let them flow together. Oh, yes, there are times when I buy things specifically to make a particular dish, but it quite often doesn’t work out that way. Life gets in the way. My plans get thrown out the window. I have learned along the way that plans are only a point of departure, and you have to be ready at any point in life to make new ones. I find myself doing a lot of that.

In any case, this was a very happy accident.

Black Bean, Feta and Avocado Couscous Citrus Salad

with Cilantro, Cucumber, and Toasted Pine Nuts

If you haven’t got any kumquats, you could try substituting other citrus fruits.

• 2/3 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous
• 1/2 of a large cucumber, sliced and cut into small chunks
• 3/4 cup cooked black beans
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• Roughly 1/3 cup feta cheese crumbles
• 2 kumquats (about 2 inches in diameter, add more to taste depending on how large your kumquats are), sliced thin and chopped (reserving a few slices for garnish)
• About 2 cups of green leaf or romaine lettuce, chopped fine
• About 3/4 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
• About 1/3 cup of toasted pinon nuts
• 1/2 of an avocado, peeled, pitted, chopped

Directions:

Dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons of kumquat juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl.

This recipe was shared on Fit & Fabulous Fridays, Everyday Mom’s Church Supper, Weekend Potluck, Love your Hearth Month, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays, and Freaky Friday.