Lemon Chicken & Arugula Salad with Israeli Couscous & Quinoa

By Leslie Blythe  , , , ,   , , ,

September 14, 2016

This Lemon Chicken & Arugula Salad with Israeli Couscous & Quinoa is a very close version of a salad from Trader Joe's. Make it on Sunday and have it for lunch during the week.

  • Yields: 8 -10 Servings

Ingredients

4 cups arugula lettuce leaves

2 cups red quinoa, cooked

½ cup carrot, finely minced

¼ cup green onion, finely chopped

¼ cup dried currants

Israeli Couscous

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup Israeli couscous

1 teaspoons smoked paprika

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoons turmeric

Spicy Pimiento Dressing

¼ cup roasted red peppers, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup olive oil

Marinade for Chicken

1 pound trimmed boneless chicken breasts

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1Combine arugula, couscous, red quinoa, carrot, green onion, and currants in bowl. Toss to combine.

Spicy Pimiento Dressing

1Combine roasted red peppers and remaining dressing ingredients except olive oil in container of food processor fitted with metal blade. Cover and process until smooth. Slowly pour olive oil through shoot while processor is on to incorporate.

2If you desire less pulp in dressing, pour dressing through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a bowl, pressing with a spoon to extract as much fluid as possible. Discard solids in strainer.

Lemon Chicken

1Place chicken in heavy-duty zip-lock bag. Add marinade ingredients to bag and seal. Squeeze bag with hands to distribute marinade around chicken. Chill in refrigerator for up to 8 hours or until ready to grill. Remove chicken from bag and place chicken on prepared grill. Grill for 4-5 minutes per side until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Allow to cool slightly. Cut chicken into slices and arrange on salad.

Israeli Couscous

1Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the couscous and sauté, stirring, until toasted and light golden brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in the smoked paprika, salt and turmeric. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

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10 Reviews

Trisha

October 11, 2022

Had the salad from TJs a day back, and was craving it so much that I had to find a recipe online. This one came out delicious, and I already know this will be a constant in my weekly lunches. I love that this way I can control the ratio of grains to salad to protein. Thank you for the recipe!

A few notes: To me, TJs dressing was a little sweeter, and had a bit more kick to it. Maybe I will try it with pimento and add a chili next time. I added much more sugar/honey but it still tasted more savory and wasn’t as sweet. Still the taste was great!
I made a mistake on measuring 2 cups dried quinoa instead of “cooked quinoa”. And next time I will make much more of the couscous.

Mischka

March 24, 2021

This was great, thanks. Love this salad but the one from TJ’s always makes my stomach hurt. This one didn’t. So happy!

admin

July 23, 2020

So glad you liked it. Trader Joe’s actually hired me to make that for a big event at their corporate headquarters. They didn’t give me the recipe, so I figured out how to scale it up.

Marjorie Devon

July 23, 2020

Ten stars! Have loved this salad from TJs and am SO happy that I can now make it myself. Jen’s husband (see comment above) is right–this is even better! Well worth cooking all the different ingredients, and the dressing tops it off perfectly!Thank you so much!

Paola

May 11, 2020

How much water do you add for the couscous

Virgiline

November 12, 2019

This salad is amazing! This is my favorite salad at Trader Joe’s and I was really skeptical about this recipe. But I’m glad I tried it out!! I did everything except the dressing. I just bought roasted red pepper dressing from the grocery store but the quinoa, couscous, and chicken are so good!

Jen

August 27, 2019

This is my husband’s favorite pre-made salad from TJ’s – and he said this recipe was WAY better!!! Thank you for posting!

Callie Merrill

March 11, 2019

Thank you so much for sharing! This is my all time favorite salad and your recipe was absolutely delicious!

jess k.

January 15, 2018

thank you!

Mary Pirio

September 14, 2016

This is gorgeous! I’m going to use this for sure for a group I do lunches for.

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