Grilled Chicken Couscous Salad with Red Wine Chipotle Vinaigrette

I only have one photo for you guys today, mainly because…well, because I ate alllllllllllllll of this salad (with a smidge of help from Nate) before I decided to take some time to actually photograph any more of it.  And when I say I ate it, I mean I literally ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Mixed it into big fat green salads.  Ate it straight out of the container with a spoon.

 

In fact, as far as spoons were concerned there really weren’t any clean spoons in our house for quite some time.  Because I was eating this salad all the livelong day with spoons.

 

Also, ever since making my own homemade honey mustard dressing I have been a little on the crazy-obsessed side of making my own salad dressings all the time.  This time around I rocked it with a spicy and tangy red wine chipotle vinaigrette, which was probably the biggest factor in my weirdo eating habits.  (P.S. it just took me 8 times to write the word “habits” – I kept trying to add an extra “B,” like ‘hobbit’ with an A.  I’m tired…).  The dressing, y’all, it MAKES this.

GRILLED CHICKEN COUSCOUS SALAD WITH RED WINE CHIPOTLE VINAIGRETTE

For the salad:

• 1 cup Israeli couscous
• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

For the dressing:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 3/4 tsp chipotle powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1/2 tsp honey
• pinch of salt

Cook couscous according to package instructions until al dente.  Meanwhile sprinkle the chicken breasts evenly with the garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Grill at about 400 for 8 minutes on each side, or until done.  Let cool slightly before cutting.  To make the dressing I just throw all of the dressing ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until completely combined.  Add the couscous, broccoli florets, and corn in and mix together.  After the chicken has rested for 5-10 minutes cut it into bite-size pieces and toss with the couscous mixture.  You can eat it warm, but I would recommend letting it sit in the fridge for about 3-4 hours to cool and really let all of the flavors come together.

 

And y’all?  Just make sure you have clean spoons available at all times!