Summer Stone Fruit Couscous Salad.
This stone fruit summer couscous salad is a lovely lunch, BBQ potluck dish or light dinner to enjoy when it’s warm out. Juicy stone fruit, couscous tossed with an herby lime dressing, grilled corn, feta and pistachios make this one incredible bowl.
These throw-everything-together salads are some of my favorites!
This summer stone fruit couscous salad is tossed with an herby, citrusy vinaigrette and then topped with peaches, cherries, grilled corn, crumbly feta and chopped pistachios. It’s no secret that I love bowls like this but WOW. This is a good one.
See, you can’t go wrong with couscous. It’s chewy and has a wonderful texture, but tiny enough to be enjoyed grain bowl-style. I love to use pearl couscous for the base of this salad, toss it with some of my favorite cilantro lime dressing until it’s a vibrant green shade and then throw in allll the summer produce.
Really, whatever you can find works!
Grain bowls like this – whether they are big enough to feel a crowd or a smaller portion for dinner tonight – are one of my go-tos in the summer. I make combinations like this all the time to complete our dinners and then we use what’s left for weekly lunches or even a quick snack.
And one of the reasons I love making a dish like this is because you really don’t have to COOK!
Every week I love to prepare one type of grain to have on hand to make weeknight meals easier. It may be quinoa, couscous, farro or ever some orzo. I store it in a large resealable bag in the fridge, and it gives me a blank slate for a salad like this. Which is perfect when I’m not feeling super creative.
Sometimes we eat that grain with just some butter or olive oil and butter. Other times I do a clean-out-the-fridge side with it. And then occasionally, I’ll make some sort of huge seasonal bowl which has all sorts of ingredients that we love to enjoy.
Juicy stone fruits, some sort of nut, a crumble of cheese, a vinaigrette that I have on hand.
That’s how easily it comes together.
This grain bowl can be a lovely light little lunch or it can be a side dish accompanying just about anything for dinner. It can be your pasta salad at a BBQ or eating straight from the fridge as leftovers.
The flavors are so summery – sweet and tangy, tart and savory. Bright and refreshing and crisp too.
This is what you need to make the summer couscous salad:
- Pearl couscous
- Cilantro lime vinaigrette – or your favorite dressing
- Ripe peaches, sliced
- Juicy cherries, pitted
- Grilled corn on the cob
- A bunch of fresh herbs, like chives and basil
- Crumbly cheese, such as feta, goat or even cotija
All of this combined in a big bowl is just straight up summer heaven. It can all be tossed in the dressing and last a day or so in the fridge – possible even longer. In fact, it may even taste BETTER after a day in the fridge. As long as your fruit isn’t too ripe, it will be perfect.
This salad + a hot sunny day + some chilled rosé = the dream combo!
Summer Couscous Salad
Stone Fruit Summer Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked couscous, 1.5 cups dry
- 2 to 3 ears of sweet corn on the cob
- 2 peaches, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherries, pitted and sliced
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ⅓ cup chopped roasted pistachios
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
cilantro lime vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
- kosher salt and pepper
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the couscous according to package directions. You can prep this ahead of time and store it in the fridge. If you cook ahead, I like to toss with a drop of olive oil as it cools so it doesn’t stick together. You can also make the cilantro lime dressing a day ahead of time and share or whisk it right before suing.
- Preheat the grill to the highest heat. Once hot, you can throw the ears of corn on the grill and grill them for 10, turning them every 3 to 5 minutes. You could even use leftover grilled corn if you have it! Once the corn is grilled, let it cool slightly then cut it from the cob.
- Slice your peaches, cherries and chop some fresh herbs.
- Drizzle a few tablespoons (3 to 4) of the dressing into the couscous and toss it well. Top the couscous with the peaches, cherries, corn, feta, pistachios and fresh herbs. Drizzle with a bit more dressing and toss.
- Taste and season the couscous with some salt and pepper if needed. Serve with as much dressing as you’d like! This stays great in the fridge for a few days - as long as your fruit isn’t too over ripe!
cilantro lime vinaigrette
- In a blender or food processor, combine the lime juice, honey, garlic, cilantro, a big pinch of salt and pepper, pepper flakes and olive oil. Blend until combined and smooth (some pieces of cilantro may remain). Leftovers stay great in the fridge for a few days! Store it in a sealed container.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Now that is summer in a bowl.
7 Comments on “Summer Stone Fruit Couscous Salad.”
Look’s really tasty and also very nutritious.
Thanks, Jessica for sharing the recipe.
This is amazing. I’m anti-cilantro and didn’t have chives, so I used basil in place of both of those ingredients. It was so fresh and delicious. It will definitely be in heavy rotation at our house this summer.
I would give this six stars if I could! Our peaches were not ripe yet, so we threw them on the grill briefly. Otherwise I made this exactly the way it’s written and it was phenomenal! My husband actually said it was his favorite part of dinner, so we are definitely going to be adding this to the weekly rotation! Thanks for such a summery treat!
I made this today and it was PHENOMENAL. Seriously, it was the best new recipe I’ve tried in a long time. I subbed nectarines for peaches because I hate the feeling of peach fuzz. I also had to use a bean/grain mix that included pearled couscous, quinoa, orzo, and lentils. It turned out so good. I’ll be making this over and over again. Thank you for creating it!!
this means so much to me! thank you!
This is sooo good! Just made it for the second time this month. I subbed farro for the couscous and sprouted pumpkin seeds for the pistachios as I was out and it’s phenomenal! I like the sweet/savory and diff textures.
loved this. We substituted basil for the cilantro, as had someone else. I doubled the recipe cus we had 11 people coming, but ended up with lots of leftovers. I would say that for lunch this serves at least 8!