Goat Cheese Salad with Couscous

Are you at wit's end, wondering how to wean your kids off video games for a couple of hours on the weekend? And all you can think of as a hobby, is to bake sugar and butter-laden cookies with them? Are you worried that the very act of baking cookies with them, while creating those wonderful memories of togetherness, also sets them on the path to become "cookie monsters"?

Well, I have a panacea for you.

This recipe that I am about to share with you is healthy, filled with the goodness of fresh vegetables, brimming with taste and textures, so quick and easy to make that even someone with no prior experience in cooking can put it to together in just 10 minutes flat.

So try this recipe out with your children and you can have a proud little ones who made an entire meal by themselves. Depending on their age, set them to help you peeling the cucumbers, crumbling the soft goat cheese, measuring the olives and helping you make the couscous. You will have the benefit of a fun time with your youngsters while teaching them to cook and enjoy eating healthy meals.

I serve this with Whole grain Couscous and it makes a complete meal.


Here is what you need:

2 large Cucumbers (rinsed, peeled and chopped)
2 Green Peppers (rinsed and chopped)
1 bunch Cilantro (rinsed and snipped)
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes (rinsed)
1 bunch Basil (rinsed and snipped coarsely)
1 cup Kalamata Olives (in a jar, buy the pitted variety or pit them)
1 tube Goat cheese

For the Dressing:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
Pepper: to taste

Here is how you put this together:
Combine the ingredients for the dressing. Toss into salad. Crumble and add the goat cheese right at the end, just before serving because it is very soft and has a tendency to melt. I buy the french variety of Goat Cheese, pictured above. You do not need to add any salt to this salad, because both the Goat Cheese and the Kalamata olives will provide a slightly salty taste.

For the Cosucous, follow instructions on the package. It takes just 10 minutes to make. In order to make this even more sumptuous, healthy, and satisfying, I use whole grain couscous, pictured here. You can also try the Parmesan Cheese Whole Wheat Couscous with milled Flax seed and Soy with this recipe. It tastes fantastic with this salad.

Enjoy!