Comfort Food, Jeff Style

For some people it’s oatmeal. For others it’s clam chowder. And, for others still it’s meat loaf and mashed potatoes or maybe some brownies. For me, though, it’s something much closer to what I prepared last night. A sumptuous bed of Israeli couscous laced with sautéed peppers, toasted pine nuts, and some chopped scallion. Atop this mouth watering base sit some sautéed shrimp which have just shared a pan with shallots and garlic. As a side, I roasted some leeks and grape tomatoes, and added the always welcome crusty bread that’s been sprinkled with olive oil. Oh yeah, this is good. And, really, not hard to put together. You will want to do this, I’m telling you. Well, that is if you like to eat.

Ok, here’s what you need: a box of Israeli couscous (sometimes called toasted pasta pearls -- it‘s larger and rounder than the more standard couscous you tend to see), maybe a pound of shrimp, one leek, chopped, a good handful of grape tomatoes, a chopped shallot, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, one red pepper, chopped, 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, maybe three scallions, a nice chopped chunk from a seedless cucumber, some chopped chives, a healthy handful of pine nuts, course ground pepper, and the ever-popular olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

As I am wont to do, I did all my chopping first, and so should you. You’ll be glad you did. That means your chives, shallot, garlic, red pepper, cucumber, and scallions. Shell and devein the shrimp (or, better yet, have a kindly friend do this). Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees, and on a tinfoil covered pan, array your chopped leek and your grape tomatoes. Sprinkle the leeks and tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with some ground black pepper and salt (if you like). Then, roast the leeks and tomatoes for maybe 10 minutes. Cook the couscous using the broth instead of water, following the directions on the box. Sauté the chopped red pepper in a pan with some olive oil until it starts turning dark. When the peppers are done, add into the couscous, and add in as well the chopped cucumber and scallion. In a pan, sauté the chopped shallot and garlic in some olive oil until nicely translucent. At the same time, separately toast the pine nuts in a little olive oil and add them to the couscous mix. (These little guys can burn easily so keep an eye on them.) Add in the shelled shrimp to your shallot and garlic mix and top with a healthy coating of ground pepper. The shrimp shouldn’t take long to cook -- maybe 2 minutes. While you’re turning the shrimp, heat up that crusty bread.

Place a nice mound of the couscous mix on the plate (next to the leeks and tomatoes) and top with as many shrimp as you dare to eat, and, finally, top the shrimp with your chopped chives.

That’s how you spell comfort!