Barbecued Harissa Prawn with Israeli Couscous recipe
This delicious and easy seafood recipe is perfect for those days spent by the BBQ with the family. Super fresh and healthy, with each green prawn only 8-10 calories each, this colourful recipe is sure to please not only the fasters of the family, but even the fussy members! The prawns are marinated in a gorgeous Harissa paste for an absolute taste sensation, accompanied with a gorgeous red and green filled Israeli couscous – made up of Israeli couscous (or fregola), tomato, cucumber, capsicum and spring onions! High in protein and fibre, and low in calories and carbohydrates, which makes it an ideal meal for ketogenic and intermittent fasting style regimens like 5:2, 4:3 (also known as ADF) and 16:8, aka time restricted feeding.
Ingredients
Barbecued Harissa Prawns with Israeli Couscous
- 750g (approx 24) medium to large green prawns, peeled and deveined (keep tails intact)
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste (recipe below)
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced and finely grated zest
- 1 cup Israeli couscous
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 roma tomatoes, finely diced
- 1 cucumber, finely diced
- 1 red capsicum, finely diced
- 3 long green spring onions (scallions) finely sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley and mint, finely sliced
- Skewers
Fresh Harissa Paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 long fresh red chillies halved and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
Method
Harissa Paste
Firstly, combine the chilli, garlic, cumin, coriander and olive oil in a mortar and use a pestle to pound until a smooth paste forms.
But, alternatively, you can place ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor and pulse. Make sure you are careful not to over process.
Makes approx. 2.5 tablespoons (approx. 65 calories per tablespoon). Can be used as a spicy condiment to add heat to any meal or as a marinade for chicken/seafood/tofu. Recipe can be doubled or quadrupled. Big batch refrigerator item.
Prawns
To start, peel and devein prawns, leaving tails intact. Set aside in a bowl.
Meanwhile, pound or whisk the harissa paste together (recipe above), adding olive oil, lemon juice and zest in a jug.
Then, pour the paste over the prawns and mix is together, covering the the prawns. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Next up, heat the BBQ to high and thread two marinated prawns onto each skewer.
Finally, grill the prawns on the BBQ until they become pink and no longer translucent, about 3-5 minutes per side, and service immediately.
As a general guide, 1kg of green prawns in the shell equals about 24 medium to large prawns and yields about 500g of peeled prawn meat. 100g of green peeled prawn meat contains 88 calories.
Israeli Couscous
Bring a medium saucepan half filled with water to a rolling boil.
We then add the Israeli couscous (or fregola) and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and rise with cold water. Place this couscous into a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest. Toss well to combine and set aside to cool.
Next, add diced tomato, cucumber, capsicum and spring onions tossing to combine. Cover this mix up and allow to sit for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to meld.
Just before serving toss through the finely sliced herbs and a good squeeze of extra lemon juice. Serve alongside prawn skewers.
Israeli couscous is rolled into larger balls than regular couscous and is toasted rather than dried, giving it a nutty flavour and sturdier texture which retains it’s shape and more importantly doesn’t clump together when cooked. It is very similar to Italian fregola.
Barbecued Harissa Prawns with Israeli Couscous: Nutritional Information Per Serve
Calories: 338 (or 1414 kJ) Fat: 9.9g Saturated Fat: 1.5g Protein: 26.9g Carbohydrates: 30.4g Sugar: 8.1g Fibre: 7.5g Cholesterol: 140mg Sodium: 632g
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