Caprese Couscous Salad in Tomato Cups

I have to say that I am loving all of the tomato love going on – so much so that I think I have had tomatoes in some way, shape or form every single day since Ali and I kicked off our recipe exchange!

So far, we have celebrated tomato appetizers, tomato dips and this week we are on to salads and we have a fun BigKitchen Salad Bowl to giveaway this week!  I have worked with BigKitchen in the past and they have some great unique kitchen products in their online store!  Giveaway details are below the recipe on this post.

I think tomatoes are an essential part of any kind of salads and one of my favorite kinds of salads is the classic caprese – tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a drizzle of tangy balsamic vinegar.  So that’s where my inspiration came for this salad…except I added a little more substance with some whole-wheat couscous and hollowed out some beefsteak tomatoes to serve as the “salad bowls.”  I think these would be incredibly fun to serve at a dinner party!

As you guys know, we are celebrating tomatoes to share recipes but also to bring awareness to where our food comes from.  If you haven’t yet checked out the information that IJM has to offer on their Recipe for Change site, I highly recommend doing so.  They have made it very easy to take a stand for this cause: you can sign a petition to get your community supermarkets involved, you can sign up for email updates, you can join their Facebook community or just simply learn more about tomato farming in the US.

Annnd, get your soup recipes ready for next week.  I am beyond excited to share mine with you!

Print Recipe

Caprese Couscous Salad in Tomato Cups Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

A classic caprese - tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella - salad with couscous and tangy balsamic vinegar, served in hollowed-out tomatoes. A perfect summer salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup water
4 large beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the couscous with the water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and allow the couscous to cook until tender, and all of the water is absorbed. Set aside.

While the couscous cooks, slice the tops off of the tomatoes and scoop out the insides of the tomatoes and discard.

In a large bowl, combine the grape tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Add the cooked couscous and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the filling evenly among the four tomato “cups”. Garnish with additional basil, if desired

Cassie's Notes:
I ate one of these for dinner on the night that I made them. So with the leftovers, I poured all of the "salad" into a large bowl, chopped the beefsteak tomatoes into 1/2-inch chunks and then stirred it into the rest of the ingredients. I ate it for lunch the following day, and then added some grilled chicken for dinner the following day. There should be enough liquid to keep it cohesive. If not, add balsamic and olive oil, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach the consistency you desire.

This giveaway is now closed.

Congratulations to Amy who shared her Grilled Vegetable Salads!

For this week’s giveaway, BigKitchen has provided an Enrico Rootworks Root Wood Large Bowl with Root Servers to hold your next salad.  I adore the look of these bowls.  They are handcrafted so you know that no two will be the same.

Visit BigKitchen Store on the web or Twitter!

How To Participate In The Tomato Love Recipe Exchange Salad Week:
For a chance to win this Enrico Rootworks Salad Bowl and Servers set :

1. Write and post a recipe on your blog featuring tomato SALADS.
2. Include the following in your blog post: Come share in the tomato love at the Tomato Love Recipe Exchange, hosted by Gimme Some Oven & Bake Your Day, sponsored this week by BigKitchen Store.  Also visit Recipe for Change to learn more about how to support tomato farmers.
3. No blog? Just leave your recipe in the comments section.
4. Add your link to the InLinkz widget below (we have the same widget code, so only add it on one site).
5. Submit your post before Sunday July 29, 11:59pm CST.
6. Anyone can participate in the link up, but the prizes will ship to US addresses only.
7. More detailed info is available here.  There are ways to earn additional entries, make sure to come back to this post and leave a comment for each entry that you complete.

Additional Entries For Everyone!

You can earn up to three additional entries by doing each of the following, but you must leave a comment below saying that you have done so.

• Twitter: Tweet the following: Join @bakeyourday & @gimmesomeoven in the #tomatolove recipe exchange, celebrating tomato farmers & recipes #r4c  – http://bit.ly/QfHAJq
• Instagram: Instagram a photo of your submitted recipe(s) with the following text: “I just shared (your recipe’s name) in the #TomatoLove Recipe Exchange.”
• Pinterest: Pin any image from this post, inviting people to participate in the recipe exchange.  Use the #TomatoLove hashtag.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is being sponsored by Big Kitchen Store.  Contest is open to US residents only.  For my full site disclosure, click here.  This post contains affiliate links.