Couscous Salad with Falafel & Curry Dressing
Boiling water hits couscous and raisins at the same time. Five minutes under a plate, and the raisins plump while the couscous absorbs their sweetness. While that happens, six falafel brown in olive oil until the outside crisps.
All of it lands in one bowl: warm couscous with plumped raisins, raw shredded carrot, sliced celery and scallion, crispy falafel, and a curry dressing built from olive oil, vinegar, honey, turmeric, and curry powder. 830 kcal and 109 grams of carbs in a 15-minute lunch plate.
Boiling water hits couscous and raisins at the same time. Five minutes under a plate, and the raisins plump while the couscous absorbs their sweetness. While that happens, six falafel brown in olive oil until the outside crisps.
All of it lands in one bowl: warm couscous with plumped raisins, raw shredded carrot, sliced celery and scallion, crispy falafel, and a curry dressing built from olive oil, vinegar, honey, turmeric, and curry powder. 830 kcal and 109 grams of carbs in a 15-minute lunch plate.
Ingredients
- couscous 3 ounces
- raisins 1 ounce
- scallion 1 piece
- celery 2 stalks
- carrot, shredded 0.75 cup
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- falafel 6 pieces
- vinegar 1 tablespoon
- honey 1 teaspoon
- curry powder 0.5 teaspoon
- turmeric 1 pinch
Method
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Combine the couscous with the raisins in a bowl and pour boiling water over it until the couscous is just submerged. Cover the bowl with a plate and let the couscous soak for 5 minutes.
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Slice the scallion into rings. Wash the celery and cut into slices. Add the scallion, celery, and carrot to a bowl.
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Heat half of the oil in a frying pan and brown the falafel balls in it for 3 minutes.
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Make a dressing using the remaining oil, vinegar, honey, curry, and turmeric.
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Add the couscous to the bowl with the vegetables, pour the dressing over it, and toss everything together. Season with pepper and salt.
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Serve the couscous salad on a plate with the falafel on the side.
The olive oil in the curry dressing isn’t just flavor. A crossover trial found that raw carrots eaten with fat-free dressing produced near-zero beta-carotene absorption. Adding fat to the dressing unlocked the carotenoids dose-dependently, starting around 6 to 8 grams. Your dressing has roughly 10.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Only 19 grams of protein at 830 calories?
The macros tell the story. Protein provides about 9% of total energy here, most of it from the six falafel. The remaining 830 kcal split between 109 grams of carbohydrates from couscous and raisins and 35 grams of fat from olive oil and the falafel. A carb-forward lunch plate.
Does it matter that the carrot is raw in this recipe?
For beta-carotene, yes. A crossover trial tested raw vegetable salads with different dressing types and found that raw carrots eaten with fat-free dressing produced negligible beta-carotene absorption. When fat was added to the dressing, absorption increased dose-dependently. The olive oil in this curry dressing provides the fat carrier that makes the 96 grams of shredded carrot actually deliver its beta-carotene.
Read the full evidence reviewAre the raisins in this recipe a good source of iron?
On the label, 28 grams of raisins shows measurable iron. In your body, it’s a different story. Raisin iron is poorly absorbed because dried grapes concentrate tannins that bind to the iron during digestion. Research suggests those tannins may also reduce iron absorption from other foods eaten at the same time. The raisins here add sweetness and texture to the couscous, but as an iron source, they’re unreliable.
Read the full evidence review
