Cous Cous Salad with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Today’s Week of Cranberries recipe features dried cranberries again. I know I say this a lot, but when I saw this recipe pop up in my Google Reader, I knew I needed to make this recipe. It has some of my favorite flavors all in one bowl. Hubby and I absolutely love butternut squash. We can’t get enough of it. I’ve made risotto, bisque, pie, soup, chili, and even quesadillas with butternut squash! And we couldn’t get enough of this salad! I enjoyed it cold better than room temperature, but Hubby prefered it at room temp. Either way it’s delicious.

The combination of these flavors is great. When I was mixing up the salad, I thought the chickpeas seemed a bit off, but they were one of my favorites in the salad. They add a nice dimension of texture to the salad. The spices in the dressing are an amazing combination which enhances the fall flavors of this salad. The other great thing about this salad is how easy it is to throw together. I plan on bringing this as a side dish for a holiday potluck because you can definitely make it the night before.

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Cous Cous Salad with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Yield: ~5 servings

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (or other hard winter squash), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks - I used the pre-peeled and pre-cut butternut squash
3/4 cup uncooked cous cous
1 cup water
1 onion, diced
4-5 tablespoons white wine vinegar - I didn't have any, so I used 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar and 2 Tbsp white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
Zest of one orange
1/2 teaspoon coriander - I left this out because I didn't have any
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cumin
1-3 teaspoons salt (to taste)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss squash with a bit of olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Roast squash, stirring occasionally, until tender - about 30 minutes. Allow to cool before combining with other ingredients.

Heat water in sauce pan to boiling. Add cous cous and stir. Remove pan from heat, cover with a lid, and let sit for about 15 minutes until the cous cous has absorbed all the water. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

Saute onion in a skillet over medium-high heat until translucent. Set aside and allow to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, zest, spices, and 1 teaspoon of salt. In a large bowl, combine squash, cous cous, onions, garbanzo beans, and cranberries. Pour on the vinegar-oil dressing and stir to combine. Taste to check seasoning and add salt if needed. This salad can be served room temperature or cold.

Recipe from Erin's Food Files

Check out my week of Cranberries here.

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9 Responses to “Tomatoes stuffed with Salmon Dill Dip (Barefoot Bloggers)”

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    webbie — July 24, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Welcome to the BBs. I did cucumber towers with mine the first time I made this, then stuffed cherry tomatoes and new potatoes for a work event today.

    Your pics are great. Wish I’d thought of the salt.:-)

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    2
    Sophie — July 24, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    Hi Jen,

    I just discovered your blog :). I’m Sophie from Flour Arrangements. In just about a week I’ll be moving to Boston (actually Cambridge) from Austin, and I’m hoping to start a cooking group when I get there. I actually TRY to cook dairy free too (although sometimes I need a little dairy in there, ya know?); so it’d be cool to have a fellow ‘somewhat non-dairy’ foodie in the group! Drop me a comment on my blog, or even an email, if you’re interested. It’s nice meeting you!

    Oh, and feel free to tell any of your friends about it :).

    Sophie
    Flour Arrangements

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    3
    Ivy — July 24, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    Wow, these look really good and refreshing! NIICE!

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    4
    Joelen — July 24, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Your idea of stuffing them into tomatoes is great! And great tip on using salt!

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    Esi — July 24, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    I love how you presented the dip. Nice work!

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    Inna's Culinary Inventions — July 25, 2008 at 2:52 am

    What a wonderful idea to stuff tomatoes! These look great!

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    giz — July 25, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    These would be fun to make. I’ll bet the hardest part was scooping out the tomatoes. They make for a delicious and colourful appetizer.

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    Megan — July 28, 2008 at 3:31 pm

    excellent use of a dip! Love the salt idea.

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    Janna — July 31, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    THIS LOOKS MARVELOUS! I need to start back again with BB now that we are settled in the new digs.

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