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Grain Salad

Couscous, Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Cranberries

A cold salad of toasted pearl couscous, lentils that hold their shape, and chickpeas, with dried cranberries plumped in a cumin, cinnamon, and lemon dressing.

Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
70 min
Servings
6 (about 8 cups, six as a side or four as a main)

For the lentils

  • 0.75 cup / 150g brown or green lentils, rinsed and picked over
  • enough to cover by about 5 cm (2 in) water, for cooking the lentils

For the couscous

  • 1 cup / 180g pearl (Israeli) couscous
  • 1 tbsp / 15ml olive oil, for toasting
  • 1.5 cup / 360ml water
  • ½ tsp fine salt

For the dressing

  • 5 tbsp / 75ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 tbsp / 60ml fresh lemon juice, from about 2 lemons
  • 1 tsp, finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
  • ¾ tsp, plus more to taste fine salt
  • freshly ground, to taste black pepper

For the salad

  • 0.5 cup / 60g dried cranberries
  • 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
  • 3.5 oz / 100g celery, about 2 stalks, diced into 1 cm (½ in) pieces
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 0.5 cup / 25g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup, chopped fresh mint (optional)

Cook the lentils

  1. Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover them with water by about 5 cm (2 in). Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes. Start tasting at 20 minutes. They are ready when they are tender but still hold their shape.
  2. Drain the lentils well and spread them on a rimmed baking sheet.

Cook the couscous

  1. While the lentils simmer, heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the couscous and stir for 3 to 5 minutes, until some of the pearls turn golden.
  2. Carefully add the 360 ml (1½ cups) water and ½ tsp salt, since it will spit. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the couscous is tender with a little chew. Taste at 12 minutes and follow your package if its timing differs. Drain off any water that's left.
  3. Spread the couscous on the baking sheet beside the lentils.

Dress and combine

  1. In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, zest, cumin, cinnamon, garlic, ¾ tsp salt, and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil. Stir in the cranberries and leave them for 10 minutes.
  2. When the lentils and couscous are warm but no longer hot, add them to the bowl with the chickpeas. Toss well and let the bowl sit for about 20 minutes, stirring once, until it has come to room temperature.
  3. Fold in the celery, scallions, parsley, and mint, if using. Taste, and add more salt or a squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat or sweet.

Couscous, lentils, and chickpeas are all soft in their own way, so this salad depends on texture. The couscous needs chew, the lentils have to stay separate, and the chickpeas stay whole. Get those right and the cumin, cinnamon, and lemon have something to flavor.

Pearl couscous, toasted

This uses pearl (Israeli) couscous, the larger round kind, not the fine granules that are just soaked. Toast it in a little oil first until some pearls turn golden, then simmer it in a measured amount of water until that is absorbed and drain off anything left. Taste a pearl before you stop. It should be tender with a little chew, never pasty. Pearl couscous is made from wheat, so this salad isn't gluten-free.

Lentils that stay lentils

Use brown or green lentils and simmer them just until they're tender but still hold their shape. Start tasting at 20 minutes, because different packets cook differently. Overcooked lentils turn a salad into a mash. Drain them well so they don't water down the dressing.

One can of chickpeas

A single can is enough to be a third ingredient without turning the salad into a bean salad. Pat them dry after rinsing so they take up dressing instead of diluting it. For a salad built on beans instead, see the Mediterranean Dense Bean Salad.

Dress it warm, finish it cool

Dried cranberries are sweet, and the lemon is what keeps them in check. That's why the dressing has more lemon than a mild vinaigrette and why the cranberries sit in it for ten minutes first. Dress the lentils and couscous when they're warm, not hot, and let the bowl come to room temperature. Add the celery, scallions, and herbs after that so they stay crisp and green.

What's essential, what's optional

The couscous, lentils, chickpeas, and the lemon-cumin dressing are the salad. The cinnamon is a small amount and does a lot, so keep it to a quarter teaspoon. The celery gives the only raw crunch, and I'd keep it. The mint is optional. For another make-ahead grain salad with beans, see the Quinoa, Mango and Black Bean Salad.

Keeping it

Refrigerate it within two hours of cooking (one hour above 90°F/32°C), covered, and it keeps for up to three days. The flavor settles by the second day. Cold couscous firms up, so let the salad sit out for about 20 minutes and refresh it with lemon and oil. Parsley loses its color by the second day, so stir in a handful of fresh parsley when you serve leftovers.