Couscous Salad with Shrimp

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This Couscous Salad is made with shrimp and makes a yummy lunch or dinner. Inspired by Paella, a Spanish rice dish!

When I was in Sophomore year in college, I moved into an apartment that offered cable. That’s right my friends. 62 channels of pure unadulterated bliss! Growing up with bunny ears and 5 fuzzy channels makes a girl appreciate the good things in life.

So, thus started my addiction to Food Network, HGTV and Bravo. {Which reminds me–don’t forget to tune into Around the World in 80 Plates this Wednesday at 10/9c on BRAVO.}

I couldn’t get enough of Barefoot Contessa, Throwdown with Bobby Flay or Paula’s Party…which explains my low GPA for the term. Oops.

Anyways, whenever the Throwdowns were on, I always cheered for the people going up against Bobby Flay. I don’t know why. I just don’t like Bobbly Flay all that much. Maybe he’s different in person? {Bobby, if you’re reading this, I’m sure you’re super nice and I’d love to meet you. Seriously.} Anyways, one Throwdown, they were making Paella. Ever since then I’ve been intrigued with the cool pans, the ingredients, the flavors, the colors, etc. It’s just all very fascinatingly Spanish to me.

Yes, I realize that last sentence didn’t make sense.

Moving on…..

Well, the time finally has come for me to make Paella. Technically this is a big ol’ spoof off of Paella because I used couscous, called this a ‘warm salad’ and left out the sausage and chicken, but it’s my take on it so you all can just take a breath and deal.

This is the super simple lazy mom version that looks pretty and tastes great. I wish I would have added some sausage to this for even more flavor and more protein {since my daughter literally picked out all the shrimp leaving me NONE}, but other then that this made a great meal 🙂 Here’s how you do it:

Start by sauteing some onions and garlic in some butter. Let it be known that I love butter.

After the onions are soft, pour in some Israeli couscous and stir it around.

After another minute or two, the couscous should start to brown lightly.

Pour in a little chicken broth,

oregano, saffron, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to boil and reduce to simmer. Cover and cook 15 minutes or so. I thought saffron was uber expensive, but I got this little jar for $5.99 at Trader Joes. Steal of a deal, I tell ya!

Once the couscous has soaked up all the liquid, add in some peas.

2 minutes later and the peas are warm too. 🙂 I love peas. They’re such happy little fellows…

Add in some tomatoes and parsley and that’s it! Cover and set side to stay warm.

Moving onto my shrimpy friends….smash a few garlic cloves and cook in some butter and olive oil.

Find a few of these bad boys and salt and pepper them. Try to find shrimp that are fresh and that smell like the sea….aka no fishy smell whatsoever. I got these little critters at whole foods.

Add the shrimp to the hot pan and cook 3-ish minutes or so until they turn pink and opaque.

Squeeze in some lemon juice and add in some parsley and that’s it!

I don’t know about you, but give me some baguette and I could eat this whole pan by itself. I heart shrimp.

Spoon some paella couscous into a bowl and add your shrimp. Serve it up and dive on in!

We thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Feel free to add in some sausage and/or chicken in too. That would make this totally stellar!

Here’s the printable:

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Couscous Salad with Shrimp

This Couscous Salad is made with shrimp and makes a yummy lunch or dinner. Inspired by Paella, a Spanish rice dish!

servings 4 servings

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1 cup diced onion
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups Israeli Couscous
• ▢ 1 3/4 cup chicken stock
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• ▢ big pinch saffron
• ▢ salt & pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 cup fresh tomato diced
• ▢ 2/3 cup frozen peas
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

for the shrimp-

• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic smashed
• ▢ salt & pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp any size
• ▢ juice of 1/2 lemon
• ▢ 1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until softened, 3 minutes. Stir in couscous and cook until it starts to brown lightly.
• Pour in chicken stock, saffron, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cover with lid. Couscous should be cooked completely after 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork. {All chicken stock should be absorbed.} Stir in peas, diced tomatoes and parsley. Set aside.

For the shrimp-

• Heat garlic in butter and olive oil in skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper. Pour shrimp into hot pan and stir for about 3 minutes or until all shrimp are pink and opaque. Remove from heat and pour in lemon juice and parsley.
• To serve, spoon couscous into a bowl and top with shrimp.

Notes

Feel free to add in chicken and sausage to this recipe as well. In traditional Paella, these items are common. I didn't add them in because I didn't have them on hand.

Nutrition

Calories: 548kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 311mg | Sodium: 1119mg | Potassium: 533mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 968IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 211mg | Iron: 4mg

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Couscous Salad