Waaay back last month, our family spent Memorial Day weekend in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, visiting with family. Every time we go there we always have a list of things we’d like to do, or restaurants we want to visit, but sometimes those things just don’t happen. Sometimes before we know it, the weekend is over, and all we’ve done is managed to head out to the backyard to watch the kids play. It’s always a great time, with the inevitable discussions of what we should do the next time we visit. We’re very low maintenance guests.
Anyway, after spending our early Saturday morning at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, sampling donuts and buying the largest rosemary plant they had, we decided to do something completely new for all of us. We pulled ourselves together early to beat the lunch rush, and headed over to Surly Brewing Company and their brand new restaurant. The boys would be thrilled with the beer, us ladies would be thrilled with the food, and we hoped the kids would all find something to enjoy as well.
It was wonderful. Their menu is so fun. We want to go back and try one of everything, because what we had was so incredibly good. When Zander thinks of his Surly Burger he gets a wistful look on his face, and his eyes half close as we remembers that burger with a side of seasoned fries. When Abigail thinks of her Salted Caramel Kettle Corn Ice Cream Sunday, loaded with potato chips and kettle corn, she stops what she’s doing and wishes we could recreate that here at home. When Andy thinks about the beers he sampled, you can tell he’s had the best he’s ever had and would move in next door if it was an option. It was a pricey adventure, and it seems the menu is exactly the same for lunch or dinner, so there were no cost savings to be had by going at lunch. But in addition to the amazing food we had, the service was wonderful. We sat there for two hours enjoying our food, beverages and desserts, and not once did we feel pressured to get up and leave to make room for more people.
For my meal at Surly, I opted to try the Merguez Lamb Sausage. It came with a salad of fregola sarda, cumin-mint yogurt and feta-salsa verde. It was out of this world. It was like Greece on a plate. So vibrant and flavorful, and every bite made me wish I had double the portion so I could take some home and try to recreate the dish. The fregola sarda is very similar to Israeli couscous, I’m honestly not sure what makes it different from Israeli Couscous, but it’s tiny balls of pasta that cook up quickly and absorb flavor. It’s been a few weeks since I ate this dish and I am still thinking about it. While the sausage was tasty, it really was the salad that was so spectacular and memorable. So yesterday I thought I’d attempt to sort of create my own version. My version doesn’t even come close- I completely missed a few things, and I was more light-handed with the herbs- but overall this Israeli Couscous Salad with Cucumber and Feta turned out pretty good for a first attempt.
I’ve never cooked with Israeli Couscous before. I had the kids at the grocery store with me when I bought it and we looked at the options available. There was a whole wheat version, a plain version, and a tri-colored version. I made a brief comment to the kids that if I was going to make this for them for dinner, I’d better use the plain version. Zander then asked what exactly IS Israeli couscous. When I told him it was pasta, the caution in his eyes abated a bit. He loves pasta, and was suddenly game to try something new.
I cooked the couscous according to the package directions. I used 1 1/2 cups of the couscous, and added it to 2 1/4 cups of boiling water. It only took 8 minutes for the pasta to absorb all the water. It cooks like rice, though I did stir it 2 or 3 times while it cooked up. Once there was no liquid left in the pan, and the pearls tasted al dente to me, I took it off the heat. Because I wanted my pasta to not clump together, I drizzled it with a bit of olive oil, as well as salt and pepper. I went light on the salt, as I was planning on using a hefty bit of feta cheese in the salad. I spread the couscous in a shallow dish and popped it in the fridge to cool completely. While it cooled, I would pull it out and stir it around to keep the grains separate and to help it cool more quickly.
The rest of the salad was quite simple. One cucumber, a handful of parsley, a squeeze of lemon, feta cheese, and a ranch-dill salad dressing. I also added just 4 mint leaves, finely chopped, as well as some leftover pork from Greek pork kabobs the other night. The dressing I used I found in the refrigerator section in the produce department at my grocery store. It’s a very delicious ranch with dill and feta made with Greek yogurt- the brand is OPA, and it is very, very tasty. I’m sure you could use any ranch dressing you like, or you could make one up with a half cup of Greek yogurt and half a packet of dressing mix. Use what you prefer. We all enjoyed this one earlier this week drizzled on our pork kabobs, so I thought this was also a great use for it.
Anyway, it was quick assembly once the couscous was cooled. You’ll note in my recipe below that I have red onion in the ingredients, which I didn’t use yesterday, but it sure would have been a perfect addition, so I put it in the recipe. If your family likes mint, you can certainly use more than just 4 leaves, but I was worried about going overboard, so went with just a small bit. If you sat and thought about it, you could pick the mint out, but for the most part it just blended in and contributed to the dish as a whole.
This was a great use for a small bit of leftover grilled pork that wasn’t enough to do anything else with. The salad itself would be great without the meat- if you wanted to make it a meal, you could add a can of chickpeas instead, or any other leftovery bits of something you have lying around. It was very good, and 3 of 4 of us practically licked our bowls clean. Zander had issues with the couscous. He ate most of it, but he kept saying that he really wasn’t sure about it. It may take a few tries to get him to come around.
Israeli Couscous Salad with Cucumber and Feta
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous2 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 large English cucumber
2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2/3 cup feta cheese crumbles
4 mint leaves
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup prepared ranch/dill salad dressing
1 cup cooked and chopped pork, chicken or sausage (optional)
Extra ranch dressing for serving.
- Cook the Israeli couscous according to package directions. When the couscous is cooked, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Toss with a fork and set aside to allow to cool completely. Stir it every once in a while to keep the grains separate.
- While the couscous cools, assemble the rest of the salad. Dice the cucumber and put it in a bowl with the red onion Add the chopped parsley. Take the 4 mint leaves, roll them up and chop them very finely. Add to the bowl. Next, add the salad dressing, lemon juice and feta cheese. Toss to combine it all.
- Once the couscous is cooled, add to the rest of the salad, along with the meat, if using. Serve with extra dressing drizzled on top.