For your holiday buffet

I was flipping through "Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations" and besides photographs of luxe tables, there are quite wonderful recipes. (They're all contributions from The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center Center, whose project this is.)

This is an easy salad to add to a buffet. Couscous, which only needs to be soaked in boiling water for a few minutes, is delightful with crunchy vegetables and a lemony dressing.

Couscous salad
Serves 8

2 cups couscous
3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 English (seedless) cucumbers, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Juice of 2 lemons
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large bowl that will hold all the salad ingredients, combine the couscous and boiling water. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Stir the couscous. Add the olive oil, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint, scallions, lemons, feta, salt, and pepper. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetables into the couscous. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice, if you like. Adapted from "Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations"