Chicken Couscous Salad

Great New England Food Festival Recipes, p. 31

2 whole chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

2 cups water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

½ cup couscous

¾ cup water

1 teaspoon butter

1 tablespoon sweet rice vinegar

1 cup frozen baby peas

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1/3 cup chopped red onion

2 tablespoons capers

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons orange juice

Fresh peeled orange slices, halved, or one 11-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained

Lettuce leaves

For someone who doesn't really like red onions I sure end up cooking with them a lot.

Cook chicken breasts in 2 cups water with 2 chicken bouillon cubes for 15 minutes or until done. Remove from broth and let stand until cool enough to handle. Shred chicken into thin strips by pulling it apart along the grain. You will have a large pile of shredded chicken.

Bring ¾ cup water to biol with 1 teaspoon butter in a saucepan. Stir in couscous and cover. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and toss with rice vinegar. Rinse frozen peas in a sieve under hot running water until thawed and combine with chicken, couscous, pepper, onion, and capers. For dressing, combine mayonnaise and orange juice and pour over salad ingredients to blend. 

Simple, tasty salad dressing.

Add orange slices or mandarin oranges and toss to blend. Cover and chill for about an hour. Serve on lettuce leaves.

So much going on in here!

My Rating: 4/5 "Substantial without being too filling! This is a nice complex salad to serve with a simple main course - beef meatballs and hummus, in my case. I should note that you really have to love peas for this to get off the ground. I'm not a huge fan myself, but if you like them you'll adore the sweetness they add to this dish."