This salad is a celebration of the bounty of summer. I buy white corn by the half-dozen. Combine it with cucumber, radishes, avocado, and feta over a base of couscous and a dressing. You have a sweet, cooling, crunchy and creamy salad made — appealing to the eye as well as the summer vibe. The salad is complete as I harvest some fresh herbs from the garden: mint, parsley or basil. The protein for the day can vary: shrimp, chicken or anything of your choice.
This is a hot summer through and through as far as the rising average temperature goes. Not turning on the stove, or use it as little as you can, is surely the preferred cooking method. The couscous salad meets the requirement in that department. You need to sauté the shrimp, seasoned with salt and pepper, in a hot pan with olive oil. The rest is basically prep and assemble work.
I don’t have pearl couscous. Instead, I find a box of regular couscous in the pantry. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the box by adding the right amount of water relative to couscous. Bring water (with some salt in it) to a boil, then add the couscous. Let the couscous continue cooking in the boiling water off the heat for about five minutes. Minutes later, use a fork to aerate the couscous. It’s easier than I thought!
The dressing is nothing more than a lemon, as simple as it gets. Use a squeeze of the lemon to season the cooked shrimp. The rest goes into the salad dressing by adding garlic, salt and pepper. The simplicity of the couscous salad with shrimp and feta is exactly how I want to approach “summer cooking.”
Couscous Salad With Shrimp and Feta
Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp (16 to 25), peeled and deveined, tails on or off
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, plus more as needed
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 Persian cucumbers, diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 ears corn, kernels cut off of the cob (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup thinly sliced radishes
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ¼ cup thinly sliced cilantro leaves and tender stems, plus more for garnishing
- ¼ cup thinly sliced mint leaves, plus more for garnishing
Instructions
SAUTÉ THE SHRIMP: Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. In a medium skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Sauté the shrimp until opaque and just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and zest half the lemon over top (about ½ teaspoon or to taste), then juice the lemon into a large bowl, sprinkle about one-fourth of the juice over the shrimp and set the bowl with the remaining juice aside.
COOK THE COUSCOUS: Cook the couscous in a pot of heavily salted water until al dente, according to the package directions. Rinse with cool water and drain well.
MAKE THE DRESSING: While the couscous is cooking, make the dressing. In the bowl with the lemon juice, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
ASSEMBLE: Add the cooked couscous to the bowl with the dressing and toss to combine. Add the cucumbers, corn, radishes, feta, cilantro and mint. Toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings by adding more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice as needed.
TOP WITH YOUR PREFERRED PROTEIN: Top with shrimp and a sprinkling of cilantro and mint. Enjoy immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
Notes
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025552-pearl-couscous-salad-with-shrimp-and-feta
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