LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I’m always searching for the Holy Grail – a dinner that’s packed with flavor, easy enough for a weeknight, and light on the prep. Bonus points for a one-pot dish – and double points if it’s pretty and colorful, too, because don’t we all want that?
This dish, adapted from a NY Times recipe reprinted in the Seattle Times, scores on all counts.
Pearl couscous, sometimes called Israeli couscous, differs from its Moroccan cousin, the version many of us know from tabbouleh and other salads, mainly in size and texture. Both are made from semolina, but the pearl variety is rounder—think a small lentil. I found both traditional, the color of most pasta, and tri-color, colored with spinach and tomato. For this recipe, I used the tri-color.
The crispy capers were a delight! I used a mesh strainer to rinse and drain them, then wrapped them in a paper towel so the excess moisture didn’t trigger an explosion. Kitchen explosions are generally bad.
We made half—that’s what’s shown in the pictures. The intro to the original suggests gently folding a a can of cannellini or garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained, and warmed, into the couscous once it’s thoroughly cooked. Next time!
And if you think you're seeing a lot of me this week, you are! Our Spotlight Sunday post features me and my Food Lovers' Village books -- and there's still time to comment and have a chance to win a copy of Death al Dente, winner of the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel! PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing.
Scroll down to the 💕 for the link.
Shrimp With Pearl Couscous and Fried Capers
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup, capers, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
8 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds shelled, raw shrimp, deveined
kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lime zest, plus ¼ cup lime juice
1-1/2 cup pearl couscous, uncooked
2-1/2 cups vegetable broth or water, plus more as needed
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
½ cup chopped parsley leaves and tender stems
In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the capers and stir with a slotted spoon, until they begin to darken and turn crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low. With the slotted spoon, remove capers to a small plate lines with a paper towel and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pot, and stir in garlic and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to turn golden and fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and a pinch of salt and cook until they turn pink, stirring so both sides cook evenly, about 2-3 minutes total. Spoon shrimp and as much of the garlic as you can to a small bowl or plate. Add lime zest and juice, stirring, and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to pot, and increase heat to medium-low. Add the couscous and toast, stirring regularly, until golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add broth or water, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the couscous is al dente and most of the liquid has evaporated, 7 to 10 minutes. Check regularly and add more liquid if needed. Remove from heat.
Stir to fluff. Add shrimp and herbs. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lime juice. Spoon into bowls and top with the crispy capers.
Enjoy!
Serves 4.
At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .
Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills.
Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket.
Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf.
As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?
ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook
Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.
“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary
Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently
Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are
To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and
All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for
Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.
A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine.
Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
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