Experimenting in the Kitchen: Shrimp Couscous

Couscous has been one of those things that I pass in the grocery store and always think "I should really make some couscous". This may explain why I had 3 boxes of it in my cupboards. So, I finally bit the bullet on my couscous virgin cooking and tried another kitchen experiment.

Ingredients (see comments about what I would change below)

2 cups couscous
2 cups chicken soup broth
peppers (red, yellow, green) - approximately 1/3 of each
6 cremini mushrooms (medium-large size)
garlic, chopped
2 shallots
1 cup of artichokes
1/2 cup of parsley, chopped
pinch saffron
zest from one small lemon
juice from one small lemon
approximately 25 large raw shrimp
approx 1 tbsp of olive oil

Directions

Approximately 30 minutes before cooking couscous, add saffron to chicken soup broth.



Heat olive oil in frying pan. Add onion and garlic and let heat up for one minute. Add in mushroom, peppers. After a couple of minutes, add in shrimp. Let sauté for 5 minutes (may want to adjust this time if you like your veggies softer).



Add artichoke, lemon zest and juice, and parsley. Let cook for another minute or two.







When the shrimp and veggie mixture is ready, add the boiling soup broth to the couscous. It is pretty much ready instantly. Just fluff it up with a fork.



Add the couscous the the mixture and stir it up for the final product.



Verdict: It was not bad. Chicken soup broth is much better for couscous than plain water. I probably would not include artichokes again. They don't do much for the flavour or texture. I also forgot to let the saffron sit in the broth for a while. So, you'll notice that my couscous looks pretty unaffected by the saffron.

All in all - maybe a 7/10. I don't know if I'm ever going to LOVE couscous.