Spring Couscous Bowls with Lemon Feta Vinaigrette.
These spring couscous bowls are loaded with chickpeas, roasted asparagus, fresh herbs, roasted pistachios and drizzled all over with a lemon feta vinaigrette. So delicious for lunch or dinner and leftovers are great!
These bowls are the epitome of spring!
These spring couscous bowls have a base of chickpeas and couscous, topped with roasted asparagus, thinly sliced green onions, chopped pistachios, lots of fresh herbs and a lemon feta vinaigrette.
I mean – the flavor is INCREDIBLE.
This spring bowl is just delightful. It’s filling and super satisfying while at the same time bright and refreshing with all the spring flavors.
A bowl like this is the kind of meal that I love to eat for lunch or dinner, especially once the weather warms up. Everything can usually be prepared ahead of time. Most bowls, like this one, can even be combined ahead of time, then dressed right before eating. Leftovers with the dressing on also taste wonderful, because everything soaks up the vinaigrette and gets even more incredible.
Basically you cannot go wrong.
This comes together really easily, and of course you can add whatever else you love.
Here’s the details!
- Cook the grains first! I love using pearl couscous. It’s been a favorite of mine for years and it’s my go-to grain bowl base. Of course you can also use quinoa or bulgur or orzo or rice. Anything you love for that base. It can be made ahead of time too. One of my best tips for making weekly meals come together easily is to cook some grains ahead of time and store them in the fridge. They are incredibly versatile for main or side dishes!
- Beans bean beans. I love adding chickpeas to this. They have a little crunch (you could even roast them for more crunch!) and make this insanely filling. You can swap out the beans to use what you have on hand. If you’re not a bean person, you can leave them out. And always add chicken or shrimp or even tofu instead.
- My vegetable of choice right now is asparagus. I love it so much and when it’s in season, the thin spears taste so good.
- Green onions and fresh herbs. Any herbs that you love work. I like using parsley and basil. And then slicing my green onions or chives super thin.
- The nuts! Pistachios scream spring to me. Maybe it’s their pretty green color. I love them so! They are so buttery and rich and they add wonderful savory flavor to this bowl.
Let’s talk vinaigrette. Yes, I am a vinaigrette fanatic. I could make up a new version everyday and enjoy it so much. This lemon feta vinaigrette is a take on the smashed feta vinaigrette from my grilled vegetable orzo salad. That is one of my favorite recipes of all time and I have to say – so is the dressing.
The feta gets so super delicious in the vinaigrette because it marinates. The dressing becomes slightly creamy from the cheese but still stays tart, briney and drizzle-able over the bowl. I could eat this with a spoon.
The version on this couscous bowl is much more lemony and a little less herby. I love this dressing so much that I’m sharing another recipe in a few weeks that uses it as well.
I just can’t handle how versatile a bowl like this is. This ie everything I need in my life right now because it is fast and nourishing. In fact, it would be embarrassing for me to tell you how often I eat a grain bowl during the week. It’s my go-to easy lunch or dinner and with a few minutes of planning or prep, comes together so quickly.
Plus, everything is just so super delish as it sits and marries in the bowl. There’s texture (I live for the crunch!) and brightness. The dressing with feta brings this rich creamy flavor that is unexpected.
It all tastes so, so good.
Spring Couscous Bowlswith Lemon Feta Vinaigrette
Spring Couscous Bowls with Lemon Feta Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked couscous,
- 1 pound asparagus spears, woody stems removed
- olive oil for drizzling or olive oil spray
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs, like parsley, basil, cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped roasted pistachios
lemon feta vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs, like parsley and chives
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Cook the couscous if you haven’t previously or don’t have a leftover grain. Make the couscous according to the directions, which will probably call for it to cook for 12 to 15 minutes. While it cooks, roast the asparagus.
- Spray or drizzle the asparagus spears with olive oil and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, or until your desired crispness is reached. If the spears are very thin, you may only need to roast for 8 to 10 minutes!
- Place the couscous in a large bowl. Add the chickpeas, green onions and fresh herbs. Drizzle on a bit of the dressing and toss to combine.
- Top with the asparagus spears and pistachios. Drizzle with more dressing - as much as you’d like. Serve!
lemon feta vinaigrette
- Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, herbs, lemon zest, honey, garlic and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Stir in the feta cheese. This can be made a day ahead of time!
Did you make this recipe?
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And very greeeeen.
17 Comments on “Spring Couscous Bowls with Lemon Feta Vinaigrette.”
You’re killing me! I’m so hungry now!
I think you just invented the word “drizzle-able” – love it!
We made this tonight and are OBSESSED! Made enough for me and my husband plus leftovers to take to work tomorrow and I know it’ll be even better the next day! I subbed roasted broccoli and pepitas for the asparagus and pistachios because that’s all I had and it was still fantastic! Def going to be part of our regular meal lineup.
I made this tonight-delish!!! So flavorful and nicely filling!
I made this recipe as a side for some ribs I had. It was delicious. And what is truly the sign of a delicious dish in my book is that I forgot the chopped pistachios and it was still a very fulfilling dish. I’m adding the chopped pistachios to my leftovers for lunch. I am looking forward to it totally.
Also, I roasted broccolini to eat with it because I had that in the house. This is a quick and filling dish.
This is FANTASTIC – new seasonal obsession!
Loved this! Super light but still filling.
In an attempt to lower our carbon footprint, and consume less meat, we, as a family are incorporating a couple “meatless” days a week, My meat-loving husband is adapting, and absolutely loved this dish. He told me to put it on the rotation. I did not have couscous, but substituted whole barley which added such a great chewy texture. This dish has great mouth-feel, and is very hearty, satisfying, and filling. The roasted Chickpeas are amazing, and I will be making more to have on hand for salads and other recipes.
This was a perfect and delicious dinner! I can’t wait to bring this to summer cookouts. It will be the star!
AMAZING! I never would have thought of this ingredient combo! it’s delicious!
This recipe is awesome! Added in chicken on the sheet pan with the asparagus and used arugula as part of the base of the salad. So easy to come together and everything tasted phenomenal. Thank you!
This has quickly become a household staple!!
I’ve been meaning to make this since you first posted it and now I’m mad I waited so long!! An absolutely perfect combination of flavors, and I love how it’s both light AND filling. I had it for dinner last night and can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch today. Also, that lemon vinaigrette dressing would be terrific on so many things. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
Love all of the flavors in this recipe! Light, refreshing, but filling. We used orzo as my husband has a thing about pearl couscous and it worked great. Only thing is we all felt that more herbs, dressing, green onion, lemon, and salt and pepper were needed. Thanks for the yummy addition to our rotation!
I emulsified the dressing with the feta in it and it made it so creamy and delicious. I am making the dressing again today just to add to another salad its that good. I added some chopped arugula to it as well to make it a more green salad (and it needed to be used up) I would absolutely make those 2 changes again.
I made this about a month ago and was immediately hooked- made it again tonight with some seared salmon. So so good! Will be making this again and again!!
This is in the regular rotation at my home now! It’s my “kitchen sink” dinner. We always have chickpeas and couscous, so I’ll add whatever vegetables and herbs I have leftover from the week (carrots, peas, green beans, asparagus, whatever). I do sub Parmesan for feta cheese because we always have Parmesan and rarely use feta.
We love it!