Shrimp and Couscous Jambalaya

tried a new recipe last night....I'm at that 'don't want to eat any of our normals' point and am branching out these next few weeks.

I'll share the good ones.

the recipe is here because I didn't see a way to do this with cooking once a month,

although, I might try and freeze some of the left overs (fully cooked) and see what it warms up like after it's been frozen.

note: the kids all ate this and liked it. they had been asking to try shrimp a lot lately - I think the pink drew them in ;-)

and, I was shocked to see them scarf the little 'pink bugs' down. (thank you Martha Stewart for putting whole cooked shrimp in your magazine, now I am less of a mother to my children for serving them without the eyes ;-)

here it is, minus the eyes, of course:

12 oz. fresh or frozen med. shrimp

1 c. sliced celery (2 stalks)

3/4 c. chopped green sweet pepper (1 med.)

1/2 c. chopped onion (1 med.)

1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

1/4 tsp dried oregano

2 TBS cooking oil

1 14.5 oz can reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 c. quick-cooking couscous

1/2 c. chopped tomato (1 med.)

Bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

Lemon wedges (optional)

Thaw shrimp, if frozen

peel and devein if necessary (or just buy the ones already peeled and devein ;-)

rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels; set aside

In large skillet, cook and stir celery, sweet pepper, onion, Cajun seasoning and oregano in hot oil over med. heat until veg's are tender.

Carefully add broth; bring to boil.

Stir in the shrimp and remove from heat. Stir in the couscous and tomato. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. To serve, fluff mixture with a fork and transfer mixture to a shallow serving bowl. (or just serve out of the pan, eliminating the need to wash another dish!)

If desired, serve with hot pepper sauce and lemon wedges.

Makes 4 servings.

ok.

now for more of my notes ;-)

I doubled this.

I used one green pepper and one red pepper

I used frozen chopped onions

I use Better than Bouillon (up high in the soup isle...it's what the 'real' cooks use, it's better for you than the cubes and it tastes SOOO much better) - instructions for making broth are on the jar.

We skipped the hot sauce (although Jake and I could have handled that if I'd had some on hand - instead I just sprinkled extra of the Cajun seasoning on top)

We did use the lemon wedges.

NEXT TIME:

I'll add salt and pepper, double the oregano, add more paprika with the Cajun seasoning and saute garlic with the veggie/spice mixture.

um. we like our 'flavor' in this house, if you have more simple taste buds then just leave the recipe as is - it really was great!