A blogging slump and a yummy salad.

I've been missing all of you out in bloggy land.  But every time I sit down to blog, it seems I have nothing to say.  Ever hit a blogging slump?  I haven't even had my camera out in probably a couple of weeks, can you believe it?  I did pull it out on Friday night to record the yumminess that is couscous-turkey salad - a recipe I tried from my new Good Housekeeping Light & Healthy Cookbook.  I have to confess, as I was making the salad I was thinking it would be mediocre at best.  But y'all.  This was DELICIOUS.  To keep things in perspective, Kloe wants to have it every day, and Jacob wants to never have it again. So somewhere in the middle is probably the actuality of its yumminess.  :)

I wanted to share the recipe and a beautiful, magazine-worthy picture with you, but alas, due to a half-baked photography class I took that made me (mistakenly) think I know how to use the manual controls on my camera, these are the numerous, decidedly un-magazine-worthy pics I ended up with:

So, yeah, I obviously need another photography class.

The salad, however - although really more of a summer salad - was the bomb.  And for me that's saying a lot, because I don't do fruit with my meat.  Canadian bacon and pineapple?  No.  Mango salsa on fish?  Just not natural.  But hey, give me some dried cherries with some turkey and couscous and you've got a winner!

So, if you're tired of all your same-o recipes and looking for something new and fun, give this one a try.

Couscous and Smoked Turkey Salad
1 tsp ground cumin *
1 10oz package plain or original flavor couscous
1/3 cup dried tart cherries
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice *
2 tbsp olive oil *
1 tbsp dijon mustard *
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 ripe nectarines, finely chopped (may substitute plums, peaches, or apricots)
4 oz smoked turkey breast, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
Boston lettuce leaves

1. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat cumin over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1-3 minutes.  In saucepan with cumin, prepare couscous as label directs, omitting salt and butter.

2. Meanwhile, prepare dressing.  In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt and pepper until well blended.

3.  Add warm couscous, nectarines, and turkey to dressing in bowl.  Mix well.  Spoon salad onto large platter lined with Boston lettuce leaves.  Makes about 7 1/2 cups, or 6 main-dish servings.

Valerie's variations:
1. Increased all the ingredients marked with a * by 50%.
2. Didn't have enough lemon juice, so substituted a half-tablespoon of lime juice.
3. Used peaches instead of nectarines.
4. I have no idea what Boston lettuce is.  I used romaine, and instead of serving the salad on top of lettuce leaves, I tore the lettuce and mixed it with the couscous (not pictured).  Kloe says it yucky without the lettuce. :)

Hope you enjoy!  Let me know if you try it - or if you have any ideas to drag me out of this blogging slump!