Who isn’t on the hunt for more easy and healthy weeknight meals? Only the shrimp and couscous get cooked in this dish—the veggies just get mixed in raw. It really doesn’t get much easier. This screams summer and screams new addition to your weeknight repertoire.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 pound shrimp peeled, deveined, and butterflied
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1/2 hothouse cucumber diced
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper diced
- 1 block feta cheese cut into cubes
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Olive oil for seasoning
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Season shrimp with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Arrange shrimp on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
- Bring 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon butter, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a saucepan.
- Stir in pearl couscous, cover, and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer couscous for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed.
- Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and black pepper to make the vinaigrette.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked couscous, shrimp, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and feta cheese.
- Pour lemon vinaigrette over the salad and toss gently to combine.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve warm or chilled.
- Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
- This shrimp couscous salad can be served warm or cold.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Add avocado or olives for extra Mediterranean flavor.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 pound shrimp peeled, deveined, and butterflied
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1/2 hothouse cucumber diced
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper diced
- 1 block feta cheese cut into cubes
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Olive oil for seasoning
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Season shrimp with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Arrange shrimp on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
- Bring 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon butter, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a saucepan.
- Stir in pearl couscous, cover, and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer couscous for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed.
- Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and black pepper to make the vinaigrette.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked couscous, shrimp, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and feta cheese.
- Pour lemon vinaigrette over the salad and toss gently to combine.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve warm or chilled.
- Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
- This shrimp couscous salad can be served warm or cold.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Add avocado or olives for extra Mediterranean flavor.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR AS YOU MAKE
When cutting the vegetables, don’t be intimidated by getting them into a perfectly-measured size. Simply think of them in bite-sized terms. Would this piece be too big to bite? If so, chop it down a little.
Shrimp is translucent when raw and brilliantly turns pink when cooked through. Since oven times vary, knowing to look for this change in color will help you indicate when they’re done—and save you from overcooking your shrimp!
Pearled couscous is essentially just pasta! To know you’ve cooked it properly it should be soft, but still have a bit of chew when you bite into it.
While vinaigrettes seem scary, they’re really so simple. And just like anything, can be adjusted to your taste. After whisking the ingredients together, get in there and taste it. Too punchy? Add a little more olive oil, or a little more honey. Feeling flat? Give it another pinch of salt.