Lemony Peppery Shrimp with Couscous

Once again, kudos to the good cooks at Southern Living. This was another "oooo" observation from Tom as he quickly perused the September issue the other evening while waiting for that Netflix show to load. His "ooo" was right on the mark. It was easy to fix, quick to fix, and EXCELLENT. If you like the heat from red pepper, the refreshing astringent taste of lemon, and the richness of shrimp, you'll like this very much!

Once again, being the consummate cook that alters as she goes, I did add a little extra "heat" with probably 1/2 t. more crushed red pepper. I also used all the ingredients as listed and cut back on the amount of shrimp by about 1/4 lb since it was only for the 2 of us. Finally, we like garlic, but in small doses, so I omitted the cloves and used a little over 1/2 t. garlic powder. It gave it taste without overwhelming the other flavors.

Here's are the ingredients as originally written: 1 lb. raw shrimp, 3 garlic cloves, 2T. olive oil, 1/2 c. chicken broth, 1t. lemon zest, 3T. fresh lemon juice, 1/2t. dried crushed red pepper, 6oz. fresh spinach, salt & pepper to taste. (Note--one large juicy lemon will yield you the zest, the juice, and the slices for the beer--and fresh is key.)
To fix the shrimp, just heat the olive oil and add the garlic (or garlic powder). Once the oil is hot (not smoking--remember olive oil has a low smoking point, so don't turn up the heat too high) drop in the shrimp and cook, turning them over and making sure they get pink on both sides. (Don't used pre-cooked shrimp--they get really tough. Don't be afraid to use raw shrimp--they cook very easily and you can tell they are thoroughly cooked when they curl and turn pink.) Remove the finished shrimp and put on a plate.
Add the chicken broth, the lemon zest, the lemon juice, and dried crushed red pepper and cook until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted. Then add the shrimp back in to the mixture long enough to warm the shrimp back through.

While the shrimp cooking is going on, chop up 1/2c. of roasted red peppers (I use the kind from a jar so no roasting), 1/2c. grated Parmesan cheese (use the real stuff), and 1/4 c. chopped parsley (once again, use fresh--it has a good, clean taste that compliments the lemon). Prepare a box of plain couscous according to the directions, then once it's done, add the chopped ingredients.

I paired this with Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss with a slice of lemon.  Enjoy!