Another Date Night Special!

I love coming up with special meals that taste wonderful and fit into the program. Diet food doesn't all have to be boring old grilled chicken breast with salad

Tonight's recipe inspiration came from Goodfood, one of the meal box delivery services I occasionally order from. Not all their recipes will fit into the Nutrisystem program, but if you are careful choosing you can try some really fantastic foods. The flavours in this dish blend together perfectly, and I don't even like kale, to be honest with you. I'd highly recommend this recipe! It might not be picturesque, but it's delicious.

Shrimp with Toasted Couscous & Black Garlic Aioli (Flex Meals):

10oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cups kale, chopped roughly
1 Portobello mushroom, cut into 1/2" thick slices
1 clove of black garlic (you can substitute regular if you can't obtain black)
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup cooked toasted pearl couscous
2 tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Spanish seasoning blend (or make your own with turmeric, onion powder, paprika, garlic, rosemary, and a dash of Cayenne pepper)

Before you cook the couscous, toast it in a large, dry pan until it turns golden brown (2-4 minutes). Place the toasted couscous in a pot of salted boiling water until tender. Drain, and set aside. Mince the black garlic finely, and mix it with the Greek yogurt, and set aside for flavours to blend. Spray your pan with cooking spray, and add the mushroom slices. Sprinkle the seasoning blend onto the shrimp, and add them to the pan. Add the onions and kale, and cook until the kale starts to wilt and the shrimp are opaque and cooked throughout. Add the tomato paste and vinegar, and stir frequently until the sauce is well blended.

Place 1/2 cup of cooked couscous on each plate. Top with 1/2 the shrimp and vegetable mixture, and sprinkle with parsley. Top with a dollop of the black garlic aioli. Makes two servings.

Believe it or not, this fantastic flavourful dish counts as a Nutrisystem lunch entrée plus 2 vegetables. The vinegar and tomato paste are free foods, and so is the Greek yogurt (in this amount). If you want to spend an extra, I'd recommend using a tsp of garlic infused olive oil to cook the shrimp and vegetables, but it is not necessary.

While kale is often bitter, the wonderful taste of the black garlic aioli really cuts that and works well with the Spanish style flavours. If you try this dish, I'd love to hear how you like it!