Anyone who knows me knows that I am a major magazine junkie! I love to read magazines and (much to the dismay of my husband) am constantly finding new subscriptions to buy. Although I have always loved Cooking Light Magazine, for some reason, I didn’t start subscribing until this past Fall.
Cooking magazines are a great source of inspiration for me, I love to kick back and thumb through them looking at ideas and learning new techniques. Last month’s Cooking Light featured a recipe for Chicken with Olives and Lemons that caught my eye. I immediately imagined the dish featuring Shrimp instead of Chicken and served over a Saffron Couscous that I have made before and loved. The flavors just seemed like they were meant for each other.
This is a relatively easy dish with minimal chopping and perfect for a weeknight dinner. The only element that could be time consuming would be cleaning/prepping the shrimp. See the notes section below for an easy solution to save time!
NOTES:
- Whole Foods has various responsibly farmed shrimp available in their freezer section. Read more here. I recommend you to pick up the “Large, Raw, Peeled and Deveined”. In this package, the tails are left on but they take a few minutes to remove the entire bag worth of shrimp.
- A great online resource for buying sustainable shrimp (and seafood!) is Vital Choice.
- You only need 16 pitted Kalamata olives. I usually pick a jar up from Trader Joe’s and keep them in my pantry for salads, pasta, hummus platters, etc. You could also buy 16 from the olive bar at Whole Foods or your specialty market and be done with it.
- Lemons are used in this recipe three different ways (sliced, zested and juiced). I bought 3 lemons and only wound up using 2 (they were large).
Alyssa Brantley
Yields 4
9 Points Plus per serving -- Recipe Makes 4 Servings -- Individual Serving is 1/3 cup couscous + 4 ounces shrimp, 4 olives and as much of the shallot, garlic and broth mixture as you want.
10 minPrep Time
15 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 pound large shrimp (31-40 per pound), peeled and deveined. tails-on optional
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 16 Kalamata olives, pitted
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 to 15 turns freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 2 shallot(s), thinly sliced
- 1 small lemon, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons shallot, finely chopped
- 1 cup whole wheat couscous
- 1 1/2 cups broth
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and gather ingredients.
- Peel and devein shrimp. You will probably want to remove the tails because this dish is much easier to eat without them, unless (like me), you prefer them on.
- Smash garlic with the back of your chef's knife. Proceed to finely mince.
- Zest 1 lemon, taking care only to zest the yellow outer layer of rind (the white adds bitterness). Measure 2 teaspoons for casserole and 1/8 teaspoon for couscous and set aside.
- Juice the lemon you zested. You need 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Depending on the size of your lemons, you may need to juice more. Be sure to leave a small lemon or half of a large lemon for the thin slices needed for the casserole. Thinly slice remaining lemon.
- Thinly slice shallots for casserole.
- Finely chop rosemary and oregano leaves, measure 1/2 teaspoon of each for casserole and 1/8 teaspoon of oregano for couscous.
- Use a mortar and pestle to grind the saffron threads.
- In a measuring cup, combine broth, ground saffron, oregano leaves, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Spray a medium casserole dish (2 quart) with nonstick cooking spray.
- Combine shrimp, garlic, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 1/4 cup lemon juice, olives, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano in a bowl. Toss to mix.
- Pour into casserole dish. Layer sliced shallots and cover with sliced lemon.
- Bake on middle rack for 10 to 12 minutes (depending on size of shrimp). Remove from oven and set oven to Broil.
- Give oven a couple minutes to heat up and move oven rack up. Place casserole back in for 4 to 5 minutes.
- While shrimp is baking, heat a small saucepan over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and chopped shallots. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Toss in dry couscous, cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to toast.
- Pour in saffron broth mixture, stir and allow to come to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover and remove from heat. Let sit covered for at least 5 minutes or until shrimp is finished cooking. Fluff with fork and toss in remaining lemon zest (1/8 tsp).
- Serve while hot and Enjoy!
Baked Shrimp Adapted From: Chicken with Olives and Lemons – Cooking Light January/February 2012
Saffron Couscous is original recipe from EverydayMaven
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