Most people gravitate towards beef, chicken or pork for their protein but for me given a choice, it’s always been shrimp. Ah, shrimp! I’ve had a love affair with shrimp in all it’s forms since I was a kid. Shrimp scampi….mmmm! Shrimp cocktails…yes, please! Shrimp on the barbie…pass me another, mate! How can you tire of these tasty crustaceans when there’s such a multitude of ways to prepare them? Shrimp are also low in calories and saturated fat; not to mention, a good source of B12, vitamin D and selenium. Best of all though, shrimp are fairly simple to cook and are easy on the wallet (you can get a 1 lb. bag of tails on, uncooked, shelled shrimp at Trader Joe's for about roughly $9). Now if you disagree with all of the above, just take your shrimp-hating self over to God Hates Shrimp as I'm sure you won't appreciate what's to follow. ;)
For tonight’s dinner, I decided to prepare some chili, lemon and basil shrimp with Israeli couscous. To add some color, I stir-fried some fresh Chinese long beans that I bought at the farmer’s market on Sunday.
For the couscous:
Olive oil
1 cup Israeli (pearl) couscous
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I substituted veggie broth)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the couscous and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it starts smelling a little toasty.
- Add the lemon juice and stir until the lemon juice evaporates. (Reserve the lemon zest for the shrimp.)
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer then turn the heat to low and cover the pan tightly. Cook for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and let the pan sit, still covered, until you are ready to serve the couscous.
4 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes, to taste
1 pound cooked shrimp, deveined and tails removed
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat another drizzle of olive oil over medium-low heat.
- Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook gently for about 5 minutes, or until the garlic is golden and fragrant.
- Pat the shrimp dry, turn the heat up to high, and add the shrimp to the pan.
- Cook quick, turning the shrimp frequently and stirring the oil and garlic into the shrimp.
- As soon as the shrimp is heated through (about 3 minutes), turn off the heat and stir in the basil and the lemon zest.
- Season the couscous and shrimp to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the shrimp on a bed of couscous, and eat while it's hot!
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