Have you ever smelled a food and thought, “I wish I could eat that so badly, whatever it is!”? My mom’s delicious curried couscous is sure to trigger this same feeling…

A while back I posted on the Mendocino Farms Restaurant and their amazing impossible meat taco salad. To be honest, nothing there beats that amazing dish, but something that comes pretty close: the curried couscous salad. My mom happened to be at Mendocino Farms when they were handing out free samples. Thinking it was an interesting food, she brought some home for us, and I devoured it. The pasta-like Israeli couscous (it’s healthier than most carbs) with that complicated, but yummy curry flavor really does work well together. This dish is perfect because it combines the chewiness of the couscous with the crunchiness of the grilled carrots and cauliflower. Personally, I love smelling spices because of the strong sensation that you get when the aroma goes in your head. This recipe includes coriander, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, salt, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, lime juice, and mayonnaise, which, together, gives you a unique flavor that’s not just one ingredient. In addition, this dish is served chilled, which makes for a good meal when it’s hot.

My mom found the recipe online and we began making a homemade version. She makes the curried couscous with double the amount of carrots and extra cauliflower because we love them so much. You can also make it healthier by reducing the amount of mayonnaise (a little less than one cup). As a family, we prefer it hot, so if you’re on our side, just skip the refrigerating step. It’s fairly fast to make for what sounds like a complicated dish and it serves a lot of people too. All around, there’s just so many great aspects of this unique recipe and I couldn’t see why you wouldn’t want to try it. After you smell its wonderful aroma from a distance and wolf down an entire bowl in seconds, you’ll be craving the Mendocino Farms curried couscous.