Tonight, I had plans to make this couscous. Lucky for you, I was overcome with a bout of laziness. The thought of roasting butternut squash seemed like too much work, so I rooted around my fridge and came up with this Spanish-inspired couscous. The mixture of spicy olives and arugula plays nicely with sweet notes of citrus and fruit. It comes together very quickly, but is pretty enough for company. If you’d like to make this vegan, omit the feta and use vegetable broth.

Spanish Inspired Couscous

Two Big Servings

2/3 c. whole wheat couscous

3/4 c. chicken broth, vegetable broth or water – your choice

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c. dried apricots

2 tbsp. slivered almonds

1 orange, zest and juice

1 c. baby arugula

2 tbsp. feta

2 large tbsp. Kalamata olives

2 tsp. grapefruit extra virgin olive oil*

salt & pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the water or broth to a boil, along with the evoo.

When the liquid is boiling, stir in the couscous. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture sit for five minutes. Grate in the zest from 1/2 of an orange.

Stir in the almonds and chopped dried apricots. Season with salt and pepper.

Squeeze in the juice of half an orange.

In a separate bowl, add the arugula. Season it with salt and pepper and squeeze the juice from the remaining half over the greens. Toss.

Roughly chop the Kalamata olives. Add them to the arugula along with the feta. Gently combine.

Next, plate the couscous. Then, top with the greens. Lightly drizzle with the grapefruit extra virgin olive oil. Serve and enjoy.

*If you don’t have this, no big deal. Just dress the salad with regular evoo or any other citrus flavor.