Authentic, Traditional Harassa CousCous (Not) Cooked in Clay

I'd seen couscous in the stores—even just regular grocery stores where I shop locally, but I guess I never really quite knew what it was or what to do with it.

One day when I ate at a Middle Eastern restaurant I ate some and thought it was delicious, and went very well with the dishes they served.

I realized that it was a very simple dish to make, sort of like pasta (which is, in effect, what it is).

There really isn't too much cooking to it at all.

Next I needed to figure out what to flavor it with. At the restaurant it had such a unique flavor.

This Harissa Couscous is a very authentic staple food that is a base for a wide variety of Moroccan, Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, and the flavors accent those dishes very well.

Fortunately all of the ingredients are readily available anywhere; it's just the mixing of unexpected spices and flavors that make it so exotic.

So try making your own couscous as a base for your next stew or simmer dish, and you'll be the one in the know about this exotic grain.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb couscous
• 1 ¾ c hot broth
• 1 t harissa paste
• 3 T mint, roughly chopped
• ½ lb cherry tomatoes, halved
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 T olive oil
• bunch of green onions, sliced thinly

Directions:

1. Add the couscous to the clay pot with onions, mint and cherry tomatoes
2. Pour hot broth over couscous to cover
3. Stir and cover with clay lid, then close and seal the cooker housing
4. After 5 minutes, open and add olive oil and lemon juice, stirring
5. Your no-cook couscous is ready!