Sometimes one of my favorite dinners is a bunch of side dishes. Couscous salad, green beans, beet salad are some of my favorite winter items. Beets have recently become one of my favorite winter vegetables, something that I never really liked until a few years ago. We used to get a lot of beets in our CSA and I finally started learning how to cook them. I prefer them roasted like this or salads.

Whole wheat couscous is one of BL’s favorite side dishes. Whenever I make it for cooking demos, I have to make extra to keep in the fridge for him. He seriously can’t get enough! This is a pretty simple salad highlighting fresh oranges. Enjoy this as is or paired with your favorite protein. We had it with a garbanzo-lentil salad for dinner.

2-way Couscous Salad

1 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous
1/2 cup Israeli couscous
1 english cucumber, peeled and finely diced
1/4 cup roasted red/yellow peppers, finely diced
1 bunch parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. Kalamata olives, chopped
1 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt/pepper

Cook the couscous according to directions. The two couscous varieties do take different cooking time so you can either start the Israeli and then add the whole wheat kind or cook them separately. You can also just use 1 variety.

Place the cooled couscous into a mixing bowl. Add the cucumber, roasted peppers, parsley, and olives. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon and olive oil. Pour onto the couscous and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Winter Beet Salad

3 large golden beets
3 large red beets
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 tbsp. water
2 oranges

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beets on a roasting pan and drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. water. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Cook for 50-60 minutes until tender.

Remove from oven, cool and peel. Toss into large chunks and place into a bowl.

Peel the oranges and separate the membranes from the pith. Place into the beet bowl. Squeeze the remaining orange juice from the leftover peel and piths into the bowl. Add the olive oil and a small pinch of salt/pepper. Toss together and serve.

*The leftover beet salad taste great over salad greens the next morning