Couscous Salad

Couscous is always my quick "go to" side dish, because it requires almost no cooking. It is literally done in 5 min. What's not to love? I like turning it into a salad. That usually works out well. Last Purim I was helping with kitchen duties for Purim Carnival at my temple. I have to tell you I was terrified and in charge of Mediterranean lunch box with included Pita, Hummus, Baba Ganush and, my last minute addition - couscous salad. Although, I love to cook, I never cooked for so many people at the same time - 50 lunchboxes. It was complicated because I almost never cook nor bake by recipe. I love reading recipes but then I cook using it more as a guideline. My method is "a little bit of this and a little bit of that". It proved to be challenging when I was making humus from 2 cans of chickpeas, but I'm not talking a about little 1 lb cans - those were "industrial  size" 6lbs 12 oz cans each. Everything had to be multiplied and in the end still checked for taste and consistency. There was lots of help putting humus and salad into small containers, so I did not have to do it but I still had to make it.  Couscous salad is very easy to make, I just never had to make it in a bath tub. No, of course not exactly bath tub,... well,  maybe an infant bathtub - it was a lot. I wish I had taken a picture, I was just so busy to even remember that. People complimented me and asked for recipe. So here it is.
I usually try to make it colorful and pick my veggies accordingly. I use read onion and yellow pepper, to add those colors to the salad that will already have read tomatoes and green cucumbers, however red or orange pepper and regular onion will do, too.

1 c of uncooked couscous cooked according to directions with 1 1/4 c hot water and 1 tblsp oil 

1 celery rib chopped
1 large tomato diced
1 English cucumber diced
1 small or 1/2 of large yellow or orange pepper diced
1 small red onion diced
3-4 green onions thinly sliced
5-8 sprigs each of flat leaf parsley and fresh dill chopped
3-4 tblsp crumbled feta cheese
3 tblsp drained capers
Dressing :
1 large garlic clove pressed
3 tblsp c lemon juice aprox.
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
If you do not have fresh dill salad will be fine without it, too.Cook the couscous. 

...the package directions usually instruct to add 1.5 measures of boiling water or stock and butter to each measure of couscous and to cover tightly for 5 minutes. The couscous swells and within a few minutes it is ready to fluff with a fork and serve.

 While waiting for couscous - chop all the other ingredients and make dressing.
Once couscous is ready mix all ingredients and add dressing and you  are done. Can be done ahead of time and allow all the ingredients to marry.  Perhaps, sitting in the refrigerator overnight played a role, since it was cooked one day before the Carnival.