Grilling shrimp is hard – and delicious

Sometimes you find a recipe, and you know you need to make it as soon as possible. Those were my exact thoughts while perusing my co-worker’s Fitness Magazine late last week during lunch. There was a recipe for Grilled Curried Shrimp with Mango Cous Cous, and since I didn’t have a pen and paper with me, I took a picture of it with my iPhone so I could copy it down later.

While planning our meals for the week, I decided it’d be a nice Sunday night meal especially since it was a holiday weekend. I had to implore the help of my fiancé for the grilling, which turned out to be pretty difficult. I’ve always heard that preparing shrimp is some what of a pain, but I didn’t realize actually grilling them would be tedious as well. We decided to get frozen shrimp and I thawed it out in water for 15 minutes. They were already deveined but I need to peel it, which was annoying and a bit time consuming. After that, thought, the preparation was easy; cut up the mango, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic, cook the cous cous, mix the curry and coat the shrimp with it, then grill.

Once I prepared the shrimp, I handed the reigns over to my fiancé to cook them. Well, we lost a few shrimp to the bottom of the grill, as they slipped through the grate. Thankfully, though, the recipe only called for 3/4LB. of shrimp and I used the whole bag which was a full pound. Other than losing a few shrimp, the meal went off without a hitch. And, since yesterday was such a gorgeous day, we were able to enjoy our meal outside with some home brewed beer! Such a nice end to summer (insert sad face here).

Both my fiancé and I aren’t huge shrimp fans – or fans of much seafood for that matter. We do love sushi and good salmon, but that’s as far as our seafood adventures seem to go. So, making this particular dish was a little out of character for us, but with ingredients like red curry paste and jalapeno peppers, I knew it’d be worth it. We’d definitely make it again, but with the difficulty we had on the grill, and the time it took to peel the shrimp, it’ll be an every so often recipe.

Grilled Curry Shrimp and Mango Cous Cous
– Serves 4 –

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat cous cous
1 mango, pleeled & diced
1 tsp finley diced jalapeno pepper
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
salt
pepper
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
3/4 LB shrimp, cleaned & shelled (tails on)
1 7-oz container 2 percent Greek yogurt
1 tsp grated ginger Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook couscous according to package. Combine w. mango, jalapeno pepper, 1 tsp lime juice and half the cilantro. Season w. salt & pepper
2. In large bowl, whisk together curry paste, vegetable oil, 1 tbsp garlic & remaining lime juice. Add shrimp & toss to coat
3. Mix together yogurt, ginger and remaining cliantro & garlic in small bowl. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Heat grill to medium high. Grill shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.
5. Arrange shrimp and couscous on a platter and serve w. yogur sauce, adding lime wedges (optional).