Couscous Winter Salad

This week my grandpa's sister and her two daughters visited from Texas, so we had a big family dinner on Saturday before they headed back south. The last time they had visited was about twenty years ago, so it was good to see them.

Linda took this picture of Great Aunt Margie, Grandpa and Grandma, and, of course, Twilly.

My mom had a lot of food and I brought this salad, which is a winter version of the summer salad I posted a few months ago. Instead of blueberries and basil, this salad's got roasted butternut squash ad dried apricots and cranberries. I used spinach this time because I didn't know how the family would do with a kale salad, but normally I would have made it with "massaged" kale.

My mom bringing the salad to the table.

COUSCOUS WINTER SALAD

2 cups couscous (I used whole wheat ones this time)

2 cups water

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Bring the water to boil with the turmeric, cinnamon, olive oil and salt. Once it's boiling, turn off the heat and add in the couscous. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp salt

In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, syrup and salt and bring to a low boil for a few minutes. Let cool and mix into the salad as dressing once it's all assembled.

2 cups roasted (or sauteed on the stove) butternut squash, cubed

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 bag fresh spinach

Once the couscous has cooled a little, mix in the salad ingredients: butternut squash, apricots, cranberries and spinach. If you're not serving it right away, you can wait to mix in the spinach. Toss with dressing about 10 minutes before serving.