Couscous Salad

I had to walk away from this salad to wait for my BBQ tempeh to finish cooking. Irresistible! Great way to showcase excellent August ingredients.

Local Ingredients:
Cucumber from Rineer Family Farm
Red Pepper from Northern Libs Farmer's Market (don't know what farmer)
Grape tomatoes from Lady Moon Farms
Carrots from Fitler Square Farmer's Market
Dried Cherries from Fitler Square Farmer's Market
Hadden House Pickled Hot and Sweet Peppers (or can your own)
Onions

Chop cucumber and red pepper into dice. Use peeler to create thin strips of carrot. Finely dice hot peppers and onions. Slice tomatoes (or halve if very small). Optional: dice green or kalamata olives and any other ingredient you like.

Heat 2 1/2 C water, 1 T salt and 4 T oil in a saucepan until boiling. Finely chop dried cherries (or cranberries, raisins, etc) and place in large bowl with 2 C couscous. Pour boiling water over couscous, stir, cover bowl tightly and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir in veggies with about 1 T of good quality red wine vinegar and some black pepper. Serve immediately or place in refrigerator for flavors to blend together overnight.