Couscous Primavera

 Every mom is looking for ways to get some veg into the systems of her offspring.

My Couscous Primavera does just that. It's perfect for a light lunch or a side to any meat, fish or burger. 

Zucchini, onion, peas and grape tomatoes are my star veggies in this dish. Lemon juice and fresh basil brighten it up. And a sprinkle of feta at the end gives it a salty kick. So good!

My 10-year-old son really enjoyed this dish. He did eat around the grape tomatoes, but the zucchini, onions, peas and herbs all made it into his happy mouth. 

If you are unfamiliar with couscous, it is a super tiny pasta. To cook it, literally bring the cooking liquid to a boil. Add the couscous. Give it a stir. Cover it with a lid. And turn off the heat. And wait for 10 minutes. That's it! 

This is a dish that cooks in a flash, and it's full of goodness. I hope you enjoy it!

Couscous Primavera

Serves 2 for lunch or a side

1 small zucchini, chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chiffonade

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

3/4 cup couscous

1 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Feta crumbles (optional)

In a medium size pan over medium heat, add olive oil. Add zucchini and onion, saute for about five minutes until veggies are softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Add couscous and frozen peas. Stir. Cover immediately with lid of pan. Turn off heat. Let stand for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, fluff couscous with a fork. Stir in grape tomatoes, basil and lemon juice. Drizzle with more olive oil. Check for seasonings and add salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with a sprinkle of feta, if desired.

Lunchtime: Couscous and Tuna Salad

For Lent 2020, The Jersey Girl gave up lunchmeats - you know, your standard deli ham, sliced turkey, etc.

For one thing, I just needed the processed content and salt out of my life.

Though Lent has come and gone, I have stuck with this decision to ixnay deli fare from my palate. As a result, lunchtime has become much more interesting. And I feel so much better that the salt and fake-food factor of lunchmeat is no longer in my bod.

This Israeli Couscous and Tuna Salad from Barefoot Contessa is an ideal lunch for me, particularly on a bed of baby spinach or mixed greens.

Good Italian tuna is mixed up with a whole lot of thangs from the pantry. The thing is those actual items - olives, capers and red peppers - already come with a bit of salt in them. So, I have significantly cut the amounts of salt called for in this recipe. Truth be told, I often do that. I really only follow salt measurements for baking.

I cut this recipe in half and it stayed nice in the fridge for a couple of days for my lunch purposes.

Like I said, it rocks on a bed of greens and I top it with just a teaspoon of feta. I recommend cooking your Israeli couscous as the package recommends. This recipe was easy to cut in half (which is what I did), and it still made enough to last me for three lunches.

Israeli Couscous and Tuna Salad

Serves 6 to 8

From "Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof"

By Ina Garten

2 cups Israeli couscous (10 to 12 ounces)

2 (7-ounce) cans or jars Italian tuna, drained and flaked

2 tsp. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup good olive oil

3 Tbsp. capers, drained

1/2 cup pitted, oil-cured black olives, coarsely chopped (3 ounces)

1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, medium-diced (4 ounces)

2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chopped scallions (6 to 8 scallions)

1/4 cup julienned fresh basil leaves, lightly packed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the couscous and reduce the heat to very low. Cover the pot and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until the couscous is just tender. (I pull the pot halfway off the heat.) Drain in a colander.

Meanwhile, combine the tuna, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, capers, olives, red peppers, garlic and 1 Tbsp. salt and 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper in a large bowl. Pour the hot couscous into the mixture and stir well. Cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir in the scallions, basil, juice of the  1/2 lemon, and 1 more tsp. of salt. Taste for seasonings and serve warm or at room temperature.

Please note: The Jersey Girl uses way less salt than the Barefoot Contessa calls for in this recipe.

Shark Attack

The Jersey Girl lurves learning a new thing or two, especially when it comes to cooking up something fab. The fishmonger at the Hammonton ShopRite had me at hello with some big slabs of shark recently. I thought for sure they would put a smile on The Husband’s gorgeous face.

(The Jersey Girl’s Husband has a thang for mako shark, which we get every summer down the shore.)

When it comes to seafood, I tend to keep it simple and the shark steaks were no exception. I seasoned them with a little salt and peppa, brushed with olive oil. Cooked up on my trusty grill pan, the steaks were then splashed with lemon juice and dotted with the sunshiny zest of lemon and the green leaves of fresh parsley.

Yay!

I served them with Couscous and Zucchini.

I apologize, dear trusty readers, for my prolonged absence from the world of blogging. I am on hiatus from teaching, and I thought for sure that my bloggery would be front and center of my summer break. But, the truth is my Baby Evan has been the focus of my adult ADD attention's along with trips to our beloved Stone Harbor. That’s where The Husband’s fam rolls, and well, Evan can’t get enough of the bay and the beach and our long walks and sunshiny days. And since my technological wares date back to 1982, a laptop and/or Smartphone are not in my mix of tricks. Yes, I’m old school that way. I actually speak to real people on a dusty old landline rather then texting them in broken English or IMing on Facebook. Gasp!

Anyhoo, as I’m sure any of you in the family way can attest: Hauling a baby anywhere requires mucho preparation. And then, returning home, requires time and focus to readjust to the normalcy of it all.

But, dear readers, The Jersey Girl and The Husband had a heart-to-heart this week, and we decided that in addition to hardwood floors, a mac daddy TV stand from Crate and Barrel, a back yard deck, a vacay to Aruba and a killer new black Kate Spade bag and animal print wallet (Oh wait, The Husband could probably live without the last item), that a laptop is strongly needed/coveted at Casa di Jersey Girl. That way, I can blog while nursing, feeding, diapering and running around after a baby.

In the meantime, please enjoy some pics of Baby Evan kickin’ it at Carmen’s in Sea Isle City, where his Daddy-O housed some mako shark recently.

And, I hope you get a chance to cook up some shark at home. It’s really very meaty. Really quite delish. And do not fear it!!

The couscous is a Pat and Gina Neely recipe. I love those two. The recipe is light and refreshing, perfect for a summer night. That recipe is listed below as well. You can also check it out  here.

Grilled Shark in Parsley Lemon Sauce

3-4 shark steaks, an inch thick
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 or 2 lemons
¼ flat-leaf parsley

Season shark steaks with salt and pepper. Brush with olive oil.

Preheat grill pan over medium heat. Grill steaks five minutes per side or until cooked through.

Remove to platter. Top with burst of lemon juice and sprinkle with the lemony goodness of zest and the chopped parsley.

Couscous and Zucchini
Pat and Gina Neely
10 ounces couscous
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, diced
1 tablespoon green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons mint, sliced thin
Salt

Add couscous to boiling water, remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 minutes.

In a large saute pan heat olive oil. Add red pepper flakes, garlic, zucchini, green onions, mint and salt. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Fluff couscous with fork and fold in vegetables.

Couscous Overboard

I’m not gonna lie.
This shrimp dish is not exactly my fav. Shrimp Scampi on Couscous is way yummy, but the next time I want Shrimp Scampi, I’m going to stick with the classic.

The dish combines shrimp with a savory tomato sauce. So, if you prefer a red sauce over a white sauce with your seafood, you should totally give this recipe a whirl.

The recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbook, “Everyday Italian.”

My big beef with the recipe is the specifications called for making the couscous.

If you don’t know what couscous is, here’s a brief explanation: Couscous is tiny pasta made of semolina flour. To cook it, you simply bring a liquid to a boil; pour the dry couscous in the pot; stir; put a lid on it: let it sit for five minutes. You can play around with the flavors of the couscous by what you put in the broth. You can also add a variety of fresh ingredients to your cooked couscous such as herbs, zest, juice, veggies, nuts, dried fruits and cheese.

I love me some couscous. It’s quick and easy and delish.

So back to my issue with the recipe: The recipe claims to produce four main course servings while calling for 2 cups of plain couscous. The thing is 2 cups of uncooked couscous yields about 8 servings. Seriously. I had couscous out the wazoo, because you see, dear readers, even though my brain was saying, “This recipe is going to make TONS of couscous,” my hands still measured out 2 cups and poured them into the pan. Brilliant, Susan.

Anyways, despite the couscous measurement insanity, me and The Husband enjoyed the dish, but we concluded that good old Shrimp Scampi over spaghettini or capellini is our tried and true fav.

When I make it again, I will be sure to cut the couscous recipe right in half.

Scampi on Couscous
By Giada De Laurentiis
From "Everyday Italian"

Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed, plus 2 garlic cloves minced
2 (8 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes in their juice
1 (8ounce) bottle clam juice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup water
2 cups plain couscous
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
In a large pot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. When almost smoking, add onion, carrot and 1 clove smashed garlic and saute until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and their juice, clam juice and white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Carefully pour tomato mixture in the bowl of a food processor and puree. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if needed - you want to end up with a broth. Check for seasoning.


Return broth to the pot. Add 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add 2 cups couscous. Cover pot and remove from heat. Let rest for 10 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb all the liquid. Fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, add the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the 2 cloves of minced garlic. Heat the oil, making sure not to burn the garlic. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and stirring occasionally, cook the shrimp until they start to turn pink, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they will become tough. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, red pepper and chopped parsley. Check for seasoning.

To serve, mound the couscous in the center of a platter and top with the shrimp.