Minty Fresh Berries and Fruit Couscous Salad

y hubs is not the biggest fruit lover. Just about the only fruits he likes (read: can eat) are banana, guava and ripe mangoes. I on the other hand love all kinds of fruit (except banana and mangoes, go figure) and can live on the fresh fruit juice and salads for a few days. Also, because of all the goodness of fruit, I try to incorporate them in our meals at-least once a day. Hubby always takes one or two bites and I am the one left to finish my plate and his. Same with my little one. She is even stranger with her fruit habits. She only likes fresh pineapple and orange juice. Her reasoning why she doesn't like a particular fruit is because of the color, watermelon is too red, papaya is too yellow, guava is too green. But then who's to argue with her that my dear pineapple is yellow too, lol!

Anyway, thats a little 'fruity' detail about my family, back to the post. Summer brings in colors, brightness, vibrancy, fresh fruits and vegetables and  also the sun and the heat. The local markets got crates of fresh berries and fruits and mostly on sale nowdays which means I completely go crazy and bought us more than we could handle. It was not possible for me alone to finish (although I did finish most of them all by myself). Now, hubs is a salad fan mainly couscous salad and last weekend I was all set to make some veggie salad and I opened the fridge and saw the rack full of fruits wanting to get my attention and hence this recipe. Some time back I had a similar kind of salad at the salad bar of the local Whole Foods market so this is slightly inspired from that. Mixed in a few home grown organic mint leaves and a lite lemony dressing. To my surprise both hubby and kiddo loved it. It was refreshing, gorgeous and a great alternative to regular salads and helps with your daily fruit intake as well.

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Couscous ................ 2 cups cooked - per package directions cooled to room temp (with oil and water as needed)

Mango .................................... 1 large cubed

Dried Cranberries or Apricots ......... a handful

Mint leaves .............................. a few, chopped

A mix of berries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries about 1 1/2 cup

Few chopped almonds/walnuts

For the dressing -

Extra virgin olive oil ................... 1 tbsp

Lemon/lime juice ....................... 2 tbsp

Sugar ...................................... 1/4 tsp

Mint leaves ............................... 4-5 chopped finely

Salt and pepper .......................... to taste

Chaat masala ............................. 1/2 tsp

Method:

1.Whisk together all the dressing ingredients well. Add in  the chopped mint, add to the couscous and mix gently.

2. Top it with the fruit, almonds and few mint leaves. 
3. Serve immediately. If you plan to serve later, chill the couscous in the fridge but add the fruits later just before serving. ENJOY!

Notes:

1. You can use your choice of fruits n berries.

2. Couscous can be replaced with daliya (broken wheat), barley or even quinoa.

!!! WINNER: Anniversary Giveaway !!!

Announcing the winner of the giveaway for US Masala's first anniversary.
...drumroll....
and the winner among over 120 eligible entries 
is...

 Swapna.

Congrats  Swapna ~ Thank you for participating in the giveaway. I will contact you separately regarding your mailing details.

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