Grilled Shrimp & Couscous

This meal is made for a lunch or dinner while you sit out on the porch on a hot summer day. It’s an amazingly simple meal and is best to make hours in advance and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. The herbs, feta, lemon, all come together for a casual delicious meal. There are two simple steps: marinate and grill the shrimp, then make the couscous. That’s it.

Ingredients

• For the Shrimp:
• 2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
• 1 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped dill
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
• For the Couscous:
• 1 quart of lobster, shrimp or chicken stock (home-made or from your butcher)
• 2 cups tri-color cousous
• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Zest of one lemon, 1/4 cup lemon juice , 1/4 cup olive oil, whisked together
• 1/4 cup dill, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup basil, chiffon
• 1 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 red pepper, rough chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, rough chopped

Making It

• For the shrimp:
• Mix all the ingredients with a whisk together the mustard and olive oil, then toss in the rest, mix and add the shrimp. Refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Remove from refrigerator and put 5 shrimp on each water soaked wooden skewer.
• Set grill on medium-high heat and let heat up for 15 minutes, place shrimp on the grill, cook 2 minutes each side and remove, let cool to room temperature.
• For the couscous:
• Roast the chopped peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, remove and let cool.
• Bring the stock and butter to a boil, add couscous, stir and remove from heat and immediately cover, let sit for 5 minutes.
• Whisk together the zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper.
• When the couscous is finished, add the lemon oil mix and stir together and refrigerate for 2 hours or more, remove from refrigerator, add herbs, feta, and cheese. Add more lemon juice to wake it up if necessary. Salt to taste.

Lay the couscous out on a platter, place the shrimp on top, and serve.