Costa Rica: Parte 3

Casado, meaning "married" in Spanish, is a typical meal in Costa Rica. Traditionally, it comes with a meat of your choice (chicken, beef, or fish), a salad, rice, beans, and sometimes plantains. This meal was fairly easy to have vegetarian as I would simply order the "casado vegetariano" or the "casado sin carne" (vegetarian casado or casado with no meat). This is the very first casado I had, served at the cafeteria of the institute where I was studying Spanish. This meal, complete with an iced tea or fresh fruit drink of the day, set me back about $4 American. Needless to say, I ate this meal quite often for lunch while I was in Costa Rica. It really was a whole lot of food for a very small price. It was fairly healthy and kept me full for a long time. My only complaint about this plate of food was...it only had two pieces of plantain!

Couscous Salad

This recipe comes from my wonderful mom. She actually doesn't use a recipe for her couscous salad, and neither do I. But this is the "recipe" I've come up with after watching her make it and being a professional taste tester.

I've made this salad three times in the past two weeks. The first time was for a class pot luck party. It wasn't so well received there. The football players in my class don't like to eat that much green (seriously, their words, not mine). I then made it again for the USF Community Garden potluck for two reasons: 1) I needed validation that my salad is in fact delicious and 2) I love this salad. Thankfully, it was very well received at the second pot luck. In fact, one party goer was licking the bowl clean. And the final time was for mother's day. And yes, my mom loved it!

Couscous Salad:

• 1 box whole wheat couscous
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 1-2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  
• 1/4-1/2 cup dried cranberries
  
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
  
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Prepare couscous according to box directions. While the couscous is cooking prepare the vegetables and herbs. Place all prepared veggies, herbs, and cranberries in a bowl. When the couscous is done mix with veggies. Stir in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I prefer to make this a day ahead and let the flavor meld in the fridge. But it's also good the day of.