This is a favorite of ours because it is light, refreshing, healthy, quick, versatile and a bunch of other positive adjectives I’ll leave out!
I like to serve the salad at room temp with the warm shrimp, but the salad is also good as a chilled side for a barbecue or picnic. It is hard to find uncooked fresh shrimp here, so I get mine frozen from Picard and thaw them. The original recipe from Food & Wine Magazine uses mint instead of the basil, but we’re not huge mint fans. Feel free to substitute mint or parsley or add chickpeas or feta to make it a heartier dish.
Herb-y Couscous Salad with Shrimp
Servings: 4
Active time: 30
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
1 ½ cups (350 ml) chicken broth
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (250 g) couscous
2 medium ripe tomatoes, small diced (I like plum tomatoes for this)
½ of a medium sized red onion, minced
1 cup (150 g) frozen peas, thawed
½ cup (15 g) thinly sliced fresh basil
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt
Ground black pepper
½ teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or regular salt and a dash of cayenne pepper)
12 – 16 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined (frozen or fresh)
In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let stand at least 5 minutes. Transfer to the serving bowl and fluff with a fork, breaking up any clumps.
Add the chopped tomatoes, onion, basil and peas. In a little bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of the olive oil and ½ a teaspoon of salt and a little less black pepper. Pour over the couscous and gently ‘toss’ it all together.
Devein and shell the shrimp (get those poop shoots out!). Put in a small bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or regular salt and cayenne). Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook for 1 ½ minutes on each side.
Serve the couscous salad topped with the shrimp.
And bon appétit!
