Erin's Nutty Balls

I came up with these during my first Whole 30 a year ago.  I'm not a huge fan of breakfast and these seemed to do the trick.  I'll eat 2 of these for b'fast and a half or a full one as a before bed snack when my workout volume is really high.  Lots of good fats, takes ~15 minutes to make, and they taste almost like cookie dough.

Ingredients:

• Dates (~15?) for the Whole 30 version, maple syrup for the non-Whole 30 version
• 0.5 lb shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 bag of raw cashews from Natural Grocers (they’re the cheapest here, unless you can find them at Costco - I haven’t seen any at Costco in months)
• Cacao nibs
• salt
• coconut oil (this is to help keep the dough to stick together for the Whole 30 version. You don't need this if you add maple syrup.

Directions:

• In a food processor, make coconut butter (the texture is best if you liquify things)
• Once coconut butter is liquified, add in dates and blend until they’re in little bits.
• Remove coconut/date mixture and put in a bowl. Set aside
• Add cashews to food processor. Process until it resembles crumbles.
• Add in salt (I’d say 1 Tbsp?), coconut/date mix and blend. If you need more moisture to make things stick, add in coconut oil (start with 1 T and work your way up).
• Once things stick together, dump the entire thing on a cutting board. Form a mound, add in ~1/4 cup (its about a handful) of cacao nibs. Knead in with your hands until mixed. (I like the crunch so I don’t put these in the food processor)
• Once mixed, form balls (I use an ice cream scoop and form ~1” diameter balls). Put in a container and enjoy!

Recipe: cole slaw

I've been looking for some cheap and easy side dishes for the summer.  Cole slaw is great because its cheap and one cabbage makes a TON of food.  Added bonus: you don't actually have to heat anything.

This is a paleo-version of cole slaw.  I make my own mayo and add herbs to it to make it a bit more zippy.

Equipment
Mandoline (I love this one - and its CHEAP!).  If you don't have one, use a knife
blender or food processor for the dressing
big bowl

Ingredients
SLAW:
1/2 a cabbage
1 red pepper
red onion (as much as you like)
cilantro (optional, but I loves me some cilantro)
salt

DRESSING:
mayo
herbs of your choice - I do a mexican/zippy dressing, so I use cilantro, garlic, and green onion
1 lime - grated zest and juice
Alternate: you could just buy some salad dressing of your choosing or buy mayo and doctor it at home

Directions
Make this mayo (I promise its not hard and you'll be amazed at how easy mayo is to make yourself)
Once the mayo is emulsified, add herbs of your choosing (I did garlic, cilantro, green onion, lime zest and lime juice, and some salt) to the food processor and blend until the green stuff has turned into specs.
Set aside

Slice your cabbage and red pepper fairly fine (1/4-inch thick?)
Slice your red onion even thinner (or thicker if you prefer big chunks of onion - I do not and like paper thin slices)
Chop cilantro

Place everything into a bowl and mix.  I find that, while messy, your hands do the most effective job.

This usually makes enough for 2 people (as a side dish) for ~3 nights.

Chill and enjoy!

Moroccan beef hash

I'm trying to find some quick, easy and tasty recipes to cook up when I'm busy/tired.  I've never made this the same way twice but the basic recipe is very flexible.  All you need is ground meat, spices, and veggies.  It takes about 20 minutes to make and makes REALLY good left-overs. (I am all about left-overs.)  I've made this probably 3 times and each time its been a winner.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground meat (beef or elk work really well)
• veggies!  the photo above has sweet potato, onion, and eggplant.  I've also used carrots and squash.  This is a good "I need to use up my veggie-bin" recipe.
• cooking oil - I use coconut oil
• green onion and cilantro
• spices - I typically use cinnamon, cumin, coriander, garlic, and salt

Directions

• I usually cook my veggies first since they need a while to soften.  A trick I started with sweet potatoes is to microwave them first and then dice them up and toss them into a pan.  Its way quicker this way, although you do risk burnt fingers when you chop up a hot potato.
• Remove veggies from pan and set aside.
• Cook beef, add spices
• When beef is cooked, add the veggies.  Give it a good stir to distribute the spices.  
• Finish off with cilantro/green onion, stir to mix, and serve

Food I'm Eating

Thought it would be fun to put a little collection of some foods that I'm having a good time eating.

Lunch is really hard for me.  I'm ok eating the same thing nearly every day, but its the planning ahead and making sure I can quickly grab something on my way out the door at 5 AM.  And make sure it is enough to fill me up.  Somedays, I think the latter issue is worse than the former.  I always have some sort of protein and lately (since buying the books Well Fed and Well Fed 2), I'm trying to add more in the way of veggie side dishes.  I'm also trying to figure out how to boost the calories of my lunches (so I don't want to eat my desk 2 hrs later) but to do that in a healthy (but nutritionally dense) way.

I'm also trying to make more things from scratch.  My latest kitchen triumph is making homemade mayo.  It sounds scary but it is really, amazingly easy.  The first batch, I ignored the warnings and used EVOO and yep, it was very olivey tasting.  I added a bunch of roasted garlic to it to mask the olive flavor, but it was a bit too much for me.  The second batch I used "light" olive oil.  (random side note: I'm irritated that Sprouts didn't carry this and I had to go to the big box grocery store that I really don't like and only go there when I'm desperate)  This batch had approximately zero flavor.  My most recent batch used a 1/2 cup of EVOO and the rest "light" olive oil and seemed to have a good balance.    Mayo recipe

I am addicted to the Todd Munn Chicken cakes in Well Fed 2, only I give them more of a meatloaf treatment instead of pan frying individual patties.  Less time on my feet and its less messy.  No recipe online (you need to buy the book) but they're little asian-curry-ginger chicken meatloafs of tastiness.

I've been experimenting with making my own "sausage".  Some have been good, some have been really, really dry.  I may go back to just getting the chicken brats from Sprouts.  They're $2.99/lb and already mixed up.  I can't make them for any cheaper on my own.

For sides, I've been doing a lot of cucumber things.  Asian cucumber salad (cukes, red onion, cilantro, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt).  Well Fed also has a nice cucumber/vinegar/mayo salad.  I'm also trying to incorporate fresh fruit and avocado.

And this week I made a killer chicken salad that hits all the comfort food needs.  Its rotisserie chicken (Sprouts), celery, apple, salt/pepper, and mayo.  That's it.  And its super good.

Paleo Chocolate "Pudding"

Recipe Wednesday!  (not that this ever was a thing, or that I plan on doing this regularly, or on Wednesday)

I've been eating paleo/clean for nearly two years now and breakfast is probably one of the things I struggle with most.  I saw a few different "pudding" recipes on the interwebs and decided to give it a go.  Its a bit weird, but holy cow, it really tastes like pudding.  And its crammed full of tasty and good for you things.

But the best part - I ate a half serving on Sunday before my 1 hr long treadmill run.  Usually I can't eat anything other than a little fruit snack before a run because my stomach gets crabby.  I ate this about an hour before my run and I had zero issues.  Like "my stomach didn't even act like there was food in there" kind of zero issues.  Sweet.

As with most of my recipes, measurements are dynamic and approximate.  I rarely ever make this the same way twice.

Chocolate Coconut Paleo Pudding
Makes ~4 servings
Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk (I use the full fat kind.  mmmm, fat)
coffee (I don't always add this, and when I do, its left over stuff from that morning and I don't measure.)
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4-1/2 flax seeds
1/4 cup honey
pinch salt
1/4 c almond flour (I go back and forth on including this one)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chia seeds

Directions:
In a blender, mix up the coconut milk through almond flour until you feel that the flax seeds are broken up.  (I've read that you don't get any of the nutritional benefits of flax if they're whole, so I blend them).

Pour into large bowl or storage container.  Mix in chia seeds and shredded coconut.

Pour into eating receptacles (ie divide into 4 for servings or you can leave it in a big container and scoop out what you want later on)

Put in the fridge and let it chill overnight.  The chia seeds gel up and turn this into a pudding-like consistency.

Beets!

I'm in Week 7 of my CSA this year, and I've recieved beets every week.  Last year, we were a bit intimidated by the beets.  Will wasn't much of a fan and the only way I knew to cook them was to roast them in the oven.  This was problematic because a) the last thing you want to do in the summer is turn your oven on, so you can make a roasted beet salad, and b) 400 degrees for 1 hour for 4 tiny beets doesn't seem like the best use of electricity.

As a result, I semi-hoarded the beets last year and cooked them up in large batches.  Only that left us with HUGE amounts of beets, which then went into the freezer, never to be thought of again.  I used some of them, but after freezing the texture was a little off.  (this is the scenario with many things from last year... sigh)

This year, I've resolved to be better about using my CSA produce immediately.  None of this freezer business.  This is pushing me to try different things with my produce, and thusly, I'm discovering new and tasty ways to enjoy it.

Beets - three preparations

Roasted Beet Salad with Wilted Greens
Ingredients

• Beets
• greens of some sort (beet greens, spinach, etc)
• chevre (soft goat cheese)
• Citrus vinaigarette (lemon/lime/orange, olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe some vinegar if you want)

Steps
Roasted Beets:

1. Cut tops and bottoms off of beets.  Wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for ~1 hr (you want to easily pierce them with a fork)
2. Allow beets to cool (you can either roast them the day before and put in the fridge, or submerge them in ice water)
3. Remove the peel from the beets.  It should slide of pretty easily with your fingers.
4. Slice as you desire.

Wilted Greens:

1. Wash and dry greens
2. Heat sautee pan and olive oil
3. Sautee just enough to wilt, not enough to cook down. 
4. Add salt to taste, if needed

Make a quick vinaigarette by combining your citrus of choice, olive oil, your choice of vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Let it set while you wilt your greens.

Assemble salad.  Greens on the bottom, then beets, then crumbled goat cheese, then drizzle with the citrus vinaigerette.  Done!

Raw Beet Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
I know, raw beets.  But trust me!  This is better if as you let it sit.  The acid almost cerviches the veggies.  We brought this with us camping and it was super tasty!

Ingredients

• beets
• other crunchy veggie - carrots, jicima, kohlrabi, onion
• fresh herbs - again, whatever is handy
• dijon mustard
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• salt/pepper
• white whine vinegar
• garlic, minced or crushed.  I love this garlic press - way easier than hand mincing.

Steps

1. Slice veggies into matchsticks (you can peel things, but you don't have to).  You want fairly thin, uniform slices to the acid will penetrate.  (full disclosure, I just bought a mandoline because slicing everything by hand was a bit of a pain.  Doable, but much better with toys).
2. Chop up herbs and garlic.  I used cilantro and green onion because that's what I had on hand, but nearly anything green will work.
3. In a small bowl, prepare the vinaigrette.  I would suggest ~2 T olive oil, 1 T vinegar, 2T mustard, salt and pepper to taste.  These are to get you started and doctor as needed.
4. In a large bowl, combine veggies, herbs, garlic, and vinaigrette.  Toss well to combine.
5. Store in the fridge and let flavors meld.  Everything will end up beet pink, but that's ok.

Beet Carpaccio
Ingredients

• Beets (I used chiogga beets because they're SO PRETTY, but any beet will work).
• Olive oil
• fresh herbs
• salt/pepper
• maybe some citrus or vinegar if you want.

seriously.  these are some cool looking beets

Steps

1. Heat water to boiling in a saucepan.
2. Slice beets in uniform, fairly thin slices.  The thinner the better (reason #2 I bought a mandoline).  You can peel the beets if you want, but I didn't and it was just fine.
3. Once the water is boiling, add beets to the water and cook for 2-3 minutes. You want them to be slightly tender, ie cooked enough to take the crunch out of them.
4. Once cooked, remove the beets and cool in an ice bath.
5. Once cooled, drain beets and add to large bowl or the pan you boiled them in (to reduce dishes)
6. Add olive oil, herbs, salt/pepper, and citrus/vinegar to taste. 
7. Toss and serve.

Coconut Rhubarb Ice Cream

Lots going on around here.  New (to me) road bike, IMCDA 2013 registration, the entire state is an inferno (or it seems that way).  Today I'm keeping it simple and posting a tasty recipe.  Really, you could use any fruit or mix-in.  I just had a pint bag of rhubarb from my farm share, so that's what I used.  No photos, but that's probably a good thing.  The ice cream is sort of greyish and the rhubarb puree was a really non-appetizing greenish-brown color.  But I promise, it tastes GREAT :)  And its mostly paleo (except for the sugar).

Coconut Ice Cream Base
Ingredients:
2 cans coconut milk (I used full fat, makes it more creamy)
4 egg yolks
~1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar (to taste)
~2 T vanilla (to taste)

Ice Cream Directions:

• In a medium pan, heat the coconut milk to nearly boiling and remove from heat.
• In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks. Once coconut milk is hot, VERY SLOWLY add it to the yolks, stirring the whole time.  This is called tempering the eggs, so you bring the yolks up to temperature.  If you just dumped the yolks in the hot milk, you'd get scrambled eggs.  Slowly add the milk until the yolks are pretty warm (~1/2 to 3/4 cup milk).
• When warm enough, slowly dump tempered yolks into the saucepan of coconut milk, stirring quickly.
• Simmer mixture until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Add sugar to taste and stir until dissolved.
• Remove from heat and add in vanilla to taste.  You could also use almond extract or whatever you have on hand.
• Put in fridge or freezer to chill before placing in ice cream mixer.  You want the custard nice and cold.
• Mix for ~25 mintues.

Rhubarb Puree
Ingredients:
rhubarb - whatever you have on hand
water
sugar (to taste)
optional: fruit flavored alcohol.  I used Bacardi Torched Cherry Rum.  (also to taste)

Rhubarb Puree Directions:

• In a sauce pan, add rhubarb pieces (cut into ~1 inch chunks) and just enough water to barely cover it.  Simmer for 20 min or until very soft.
• Once soft, add sugar and rum to taste.
• You can mash it with a potato masher but I put the mix in a blender. 
• Also optional: straining in a sieve to remove any stringy pieces.  I didn't do this and I thought it was ok.
• Chill well before adding to ice cream
• To add to ice cream, you can either dump it in when you start mixing (so it is fully incorporated) or you can add it in at the very end and attempt to make "ribbons".  Your call.

Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

I love dessert, but since switching to paleo, I've had to get a bit creative.  I found this recipe a few months back and gave it a whirl.  It wasn't quite like a cookie.... it was more like a baclava that used coconut instead of phylo dough.  It was also massively crumbly, probably due to the large flake coconut.  I thought the dark chocoloate would be a nice touch.  Its tasty and it helps to hold the whole thing together. 

So I tweaked the recipe a bit and came up with this:

2.5 cups unsweetened coconut (I did 1.5 cups shreeded, 1 cup flaked)
3 egg whites (I started with 2 and it wasn't moist enough so I added the 3rd white)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey (I used orange blossom)
a few drops almond extract
good sized handfull of chocolate chips

Mix ingredients from coconut through almond extract together and let it sit a few minutes so the coconut becomes slightly saturated.  Pre-heat oven to 350.  Form balls with some sort of scoop (I used an ice cream scoop, but you could use a tablespoon for smaller sized macaroons) and put on cookie sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Cool in freezer for ~30 minutes.

Once cooled, take chocolate chips and partially melt in the microwave.  Remove from microwave and stir to melt all the chocolate.  Dip tops of macaroons in the chocolate then place the whole lot in the freezer to set the chocolate.

This made 9 two-inch diameter cookies.  I just eat one for dessert as they are pretty rich.

And of course, I don't have any pictures.  That would require planning ahead.

Scalloped potatoes with ham and leeks

I have an overabundance of winter veggies from the CSA.  In particular, squash, potatoes, onions, and leeks.  The squash and potatoes are happily sleeping in my basement until I feel like using them.  The leeks were massive and taking up space in my veggie drawer.  Seriously, these things were as big as my arm.


one of two ginormous leeks.  and to think, last month I got a
small leek and I was actually whining about how small it was.

 One of the cooking blogs I read is Three Many Cooks, and I found this recipe for Creamy Leek Gratin with Garlic Breadcrumbs and Bacon.  I had some ham steaks from the farm and decided that this would make a nice main course for the week.  However, upon slicing up the two massive leeks, I realized that while massive, they were only about half of what I needed for the recipe.  And then I went off-recipe and created something which I consider was WAY tastier.  This was done on the fly and measurements are approximate.  Really, I just used whatever I had lying around.

I'm guessing this makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• ~1 lb leeks, sliced
• ~1/2 cup onion, diced
• garlic
• spinach (I used one bunch - next time, I will use 2 bunches)
• 5 fist sized potatoes (they may have been smaller).  Maybe a pound?  Type doesn't matter - I used both russet and red.  Slice thin, no need to peel them.
• ~2 lbs ham, fat removed and cubed
• panko breadcrumbs

Bechamel Sauce
(I think this is a bechamel sauce.... its my version of it anyways)

• 2 T butter
• 2-3 T flour
• milk (really no idea.... 2 cups maybe?)
• half and half (same amount as milk, but really no idea on the quantity.  Also, you could probably just use milk here)
• 8 oz shredded smoked grueyre cheese
• pepper
• 6 oz plain greek yogurt

Steps:

1. Preheat over to 425.
2. Quarter and slice leeks and let soak in 2 water baths to remove dirt and grit.
3. Get a big mixing bowl.  You can layer everything in a casserole dish, but I just dumped everything in a huge bowl, added the sauce, mixed it up well, and dumped it in a pan.
4. Slice potatoes, dice ham and put in mixing bowl.
5. Sautee leeks, garlic, and onion until translucent, about 10 min on medium heat.
6. When done, transfer to bowl, keeping about 1 cup of leeks separate.
7. Sautee spinach.  Honestly, the spinach could be cooked with the leeks.... I just didn't think of adding them until the leeks were almost done.  Add to bowl.
8. Make sauce
• prepare a roux.  Add butter and melt it, then add flour.  Then slowly add the milk, stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps.  Really, you want to add the milk slow.  Once that's combined, add the half and half.
• Bring it up to a warm temperature - you don't want it to boil.  You just need it hot enough to melt the cheese.
• Add ground pepper to taste.
• Add cheesy goodness.  And stir a lot to melt.
• Once the cheese is melted, remove from the heat and add leeks and greek yogurt.  Whisk to incorporate/mix yogurt.  Then I blended it a bit with an immersion blender - although you could totally skip this step. (also, if you don't blend it, you can skip adding leeks to the sauce).  I thought the yogurt was a bit odd, but it added a nice creamy-ness to it and you couldn't tell it was in there.
9. Add sauce to bowl with the rest ingredients and mix to ensure everything is coated.  You want this pretty soupy.
10. Add to casserole dish (I used a 13 x 9 glass dish), coat generously with breadcrumbs
11. Bake in oven for ~45 - 60 min.  It was probably done at 45 minutes, I just wanted to make sure.  Also, after 30 min, check every 15 min or so to ensure your breadcrumbs don't burn.  I had to cover with foil after 45 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let it sit for ~10 min. 
13. Try not to eat the whole pan.

Salsa Verde Chicken with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings

I love the website The Pioneer Woman (and her associated site, Tasty Kitchen). One day, at the bottom of the Tasty Kitchen page, I noticed a link for a cookbook for Perfect One-Dish Dinners.  I clicked on the link, which took me to Amazon.  After reading a few of the sample recipes, I knew I wanted to give this book a try.

This recipe was one of the featured ones on Amazon.  It was crazy-easy to make.  Seriously.  Mostly chopping up some herbs, mixing things, and opening some cans.  It took about 30 minutes to cook.  Will said that this was easily one of the best things I've ever made.  As a bonus, the "dumplings" (which are more like drop biscuits that you put on top of the chicken/sauce mixture) would easily be very tasty bisciuts on their own, as a compliment to another dinner.

From the cookbook:

Courtesy of Amazon / Perfect One-Dish Dinners.  Mine did not look quite so pretty.

Serves 6
This stew can be made 2 days ahead up to the point of making the dumplings. Reheat it before topping and baking. If you want to double the recipe, use a large heavy roasting pan set over two burners.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa verde (2 cups)
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 large rotisserie chicken, meat deboned and left in large chunks (about 6 cups)
Erin note: I also added some swiss chard (because I got tons from the farm share).  It was really good and added some veggies and color.  Spinach (or something similar) would also be good.

For the Dumplings
1 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

For the Chicken
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees (for the dumplings).
2. Heat butter over medium-high heat in a large (11 to 12-inch), deep ovenproof sauté pan or 5-to 6-quart Dutch oven.
3. Whisk in flour to make a paste.
4. Mix broth, salsa verde, and evaporated milk and whisk in all at once. Whisk, vigorously at first, until mixture simmers and thickens to sauce consistency.
5. Stir in chicken, heat through and cover to keep warm.

For the Dumplings
1. Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until steamy.
2. Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, scallions, and cilantro in a medium bowl with a fork. Stir in milk mixture to form a smooth, firm dough.
3. Pinch off Ping-Pong-ball-size pieces of dough with your fingers and drop onto chicken mixture.
4. Return chicken to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and transfer pan to oven and bake until dumplings are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve.

Erin Note - I don't have a dutch oven, so I used a regular skillet (which can go into the oven) but quickly realized that the poor little skillet was no match for how much food this was.  After preparing the chicken on the stove in the skillet, I poured it into an 11 x 9 glass baking pan, then added the dumplings.  Then it all went into the oven for 15 minutes.

Shrimp and Couscous Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

I like to cook yummy and healthy things.  Something we came up with years ag when I was studying for my engineering exam (think Bar exam, but 4 years after you graduate), was that on Sundays, I'd cook a big batch of "something" that would last 3-4 nights.  Will can't cook well, cooking food every night was just too time comsuming, and with my funky dietary needs, "winging it" really doesn't work well on a regular basis.  Six years later, and this is pretty much how we like to eat.  Its easy and it guarantees that I have food I can eat during the week.  Fortunately, we both like leftovers too, or else this way of cooking would never work.  I try to cook seasonally, but that doesn't always work out.  And I rarely cook anything "American" - we like mostly asian and mediterranean flavors. Most of my recipes come from Cooking Light, with some tweaks.  Nutritional requirements are a 2:1 carb/protein ratio and that the protein is either fish or poultry.  When I cook something I particularly like, I'll post it here to share.

Shrimp and Couscous Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
I have a ton of basil that I inexplicably bought last week and didn't use, plus since its getting warm, I wanted a bright summery salad to eat for the week.  I took a chicken/basil/couscous salad recipe and tweaked it a bit.  I like this because there's minimila cooking, which is great when things are warm.

Ingredients

14 oz can chicken broth
16 oz medium size shrimp (pre-cooked and frozen.
4 oz whole wheat israeli couscous
8 oz whole wheat normal (small) couscous
(this is about 2 cups of dry couscous - you can use all small couscous, I just like the idea of the 2 kinds mixed together)
water to bring total liquid volume up to 2 1/4 cups
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
~1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sliced green onions
1 red bell pepper (chopped)

 Preparation

Bring broth/water and 1 finely chopped garlic clove to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add add couscous to broth; stir well. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes. Place couscous in a large bowl; cool completely. Fluff with a fork.

Prep Vinaigrette by mixing 1 clove of garlic, basil through pepper in a separate bowl and let it stand ~15 or so for flavors to combine (I just let it sit for as long as it took the couscous to cool down in the freezer).

Thaw frozen shrimp in a collander under cool water.

Combine couscous, green onions, red pepper, shrimp, and vinaigrette in large dish.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.  (or 15 minutes because you're hungry and can't wait any longer like I did).

Notes

• This is pretty heavy on the garlic, so you may want to reduce it by one clove.  I like garlic, so this doesn't bother me a bit.
• The second night, I thought the lemon disappeared a bit, so I whipped up more vinaigrette and mixed it in the remaining salad.
• I was supposed to add garbanzo beans to this and totally forgot, so this probabaly doesn't have quite as much protein as I needed.  Ooops.
• This is VERY PRETTY when its fresh and the green onion / basil are green.  As it sits in the fridge, the greens darken a bit but are still tasty.  This would be a good potluck / picnic dish since its pretty quick to prepare and can hang out for several hours without threat of food poisoning.