Post Thanksgiving Food Hangover (Israeli Couscous)

After a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of family, love, and FOOD (more to come) I wanted to make something light for dinner tonight.  I borrowed Barefoot Contessa's  Foolproof cookbook (I pretty much love all of her recipes and watch her show religiously) and decided to try her Israeli Couscous as a side dish.  This recipe was quick, easy, and sooo good! I did something Ina always says not to do.  I did not follow her recipe word for word and made a couple substitutions.

Ingredients
2 cups Israeli couscous (10 to 12 ounces)
2 (7-ounce) cans or jars Italian tuna, drained and flaked  (If you know me well enough I don't do tuna :)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup good olive oil
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup pitted, oil-cured black olives, coarsely chopped (3 ounces)
1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, medium-diced (4 ounces) (I forgot to pick up at the store so I used a fresh green pepper)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped scallions (6-8 scallions)
1/4 cup julienned fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
Juice of 1/2 lemon


Directions
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the couscous and reduce the heat to very low. Cover the pot and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until the couscous is just tender. (I pull the pot halfway off the heat.) Drain in a colander.

Meanwhile, combine the tuna, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, capers, olives, red peppers, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper in a large bowl. Pour the hot couscous into the mixture and stir well. Cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir in the scallions, basil, juice of the 1/2 lemon, and 1 more teaspoon of salt. Taste for seasonings and serve warm or at room temperature.

I served the Israeli Couscous with baked chicken topped with crab dip.  Make sure you top the couscous with extra basil and green onions.  This side dish was made for less than $7 and leftovers for the next couple of days.

Looking forward to sharing some more recipes from the past few days this upcoming week.  How do you recover from post- Turkey weekend?