Chickpea & Balsamic Couscous Salad

I've cooked a lot since I've arrived here! There are some great restaurants, but the only choices for "fast food" or a quick lunch stop are "pizza al taglio" ["pizza by cut"] or a panino from a bar. They're delicious but the choices don't vary much. I also don't like spending money on it each day when I could be saving to go out to the delicious restaurants lining the streets of Trastevere :)

I figured the first recipe post I shared should use some of the classic Italian ingredients - balsamic vinegar and tomatoes! Surprising to me, couscous is also a common food here. I picked up a box at our "ethnic store" simply because I wanted something cheap, easy, tasty, relatively healthy, and an alternative to pasta! Since then, however, I've found that it's sold at a lot of restaurants and one of the resident students at AUR suggested to keep it on hand as well. Looks like I was ahead of the game.

I also quite easily found chickpeas at the grocery store. Opening them with a knife since my kitchen lacked a can opener was slightly life threatening, but I've since invested in one. I think it was probably 4 euros well spent.

Cucumbers here can be iffy - we think sometimes they are intended for pickling so the skin is extremely bitter. I've had pretty good luck with the fresh fruit and veggie stand, however, as opposed to the ethnic store's small selection.

I found the base of this recipe here, but I tweaked it a little and it came out great! My roommates approved as well :) It's so easy to stick in my bag for lunch, packed with flavor, and chock full of veggies I can pick up at the stand down the street.

Chickpea & Balsamic Couscous Salad

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup uncooked couscous

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 can chickpeas

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cucumber, sliced and quartered

1 green onion, sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

parsley, for garnish

avocado, for serving

spinach, torn for serving

Boil water in a saucepan. Add couscous, remove from heat, and cover. Let sit for about 5 minutes or until couscous has absorbed water. Fluff with a fork.

Combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Pour over warm couscous to allow it to absorb the flavor.

In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, and couscous with dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley. Serve over bed of spinach and top with slices of avocado.

Makes about 3 servings. Tastes great after a day in the fridge!

[The original recipe used white wine vinegar, but I used balsamic to give it more flavor :) ]

Alrighty, that was officially my first recipe post. My roommates laugh at me because I write everything we cook down in my notebook, but hey, there's just not enough room to drag my computer into the kitchen each time! And this way I'll have all my good recipes easy to find in the future.

Hope you try & enjoy it!