Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Tomatoes

I found this recipe in American Lifestyle magazine and loved the idea of roasted tomatoes and couscous. I changed it up a bit switching the couscous to Israeli couscous. I could not find the recipe online so here is my version.

Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Tomatoes

1 cup Israeli couscous
~1 lb. ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
red chili flakes to taste
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
3 green onions, sliced
large spring of mint, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
3 ounces goat cheese crumbled
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash tomatoes and cut into bite size pieces, cutting out hard stem spot. Bake tomatoes in oven proof baking dish with the olive oil, red chili flakes, pepper, salt and whole garlic cloves. Do not remove outer papery skin from garlic. Bake until tomatoes soften and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool. When the garlic is cool enough to handle slip it out of its skin and mash to mix with tomatoes and oil.

Cook couscous according to directions on package. Cook with chicken stock if you want a richer result. Let cool for a few minutes.

Combine couscous and roasted tomatoes with the oil. Add the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I served this on the warm side which was delicious. The goat cheese became very creamy as it melted alittle. I cooked a couple of turkey Italian sausages for Mike and I and Abigail had the salad alone. I chopped up the sausages and mixed them in with the couscous. It would also be good with any grilled chicken or fish.

Enjoy!