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Corn, Chicken and Sundried Tomato Israeli Couscous Salad

Israeli couscous is a pasta shaped like rice or tiny balls. It features in a lot of cafes and restaurants nowadays and is easy to cook, just like normal pasta. This makes a really tasty lunch, great to take to work in a lunch box.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Lunch
Servings 4
Calories 341 kcal
Dairy Free, Diabetic, Kid Friendly

Ingredients
  

  • 2 corn cobs husks and silk removed, cut in half
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock made from stock powder is fine
  • 1 cup Israeli couscous or small orzo/risoni pasta
  • 1 chicken breast cooked, shredded
  • 1 ½ cups cucumber diced
  • 3 spring onions sliced
  • 2 small courgettes/zucchini peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler (optional)
  • 3-4 tablespoons sundried tomato pesto or tapenade* or basil pesto to taste
  • ¼ cup pine nuts** lightly toasted
  • ¼ cup fresh coriander and mint chopped

Instructions
 

  • Cook corn cobs in boiling water for 8-10 minutes until kernels are bright yellow and tender. Drain and allow to cool before cutting off kernels with a sharp knife.
  • Bring chicken/vegetable stock to the boil in a pot and add Israeli couscous. Stir and simmer for about 6-8 minutes or until couscous is al dente (just cooked through). Drain.
  • Toss Israeli couscous with chicken, cucumber, spring onion, courgette (if using), sundried tomato tapenade, pine nuts and herbs. Divide between plates and serve.

Notes

*you can use pre-made pesto or tapenade or make your own by blending ½ cup each of chopped sundried tomatoes and pitted black olives with 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice in a food processor until just combined.
**toast pine nuts in a dry fry pan on medium heat until light golden (about 2 minutes). Shake around pan frequently to avoid burning on one side.
I’ve cooked the Israeli couscous in stock here for extra favour, but you could just boil it in salted water too. If you don’t have it on hand, it can be easily substituted for orzo or risoni pasta, or normal instant couscous – just follow the cooking instructions on the pack. For a gluten-free alternative, sorghum is the perfect substitute – check it out in this pumpkin, date and feta Sorghum tabouleh.