Well, after a long week, it’s lovely to have a dish that turns out delicious and takes a minimum of my time. (Recent failures that never made it to you: creamed slices of sweet potato. They do not work out and you may have to dump several teaspoons of curry paste in to disguise the mess so your patient, long-suffering husband will not have to hold his nose when he eats them. I mean, what? I am a faultless cook….)

Supposedly baked couscous of various kinds shows up a lot in Moroccan cooking. I honestly haven’t the faintest idea, because although my favorite restaurant of all time was a Moroccan restaurant, I am too intimidated to try much Moroccan cooking. But when the aforementioned long-suffering husband suggested this, I could not resist. What is the worst that could happen? It would be bland couscous.

The best that could happen? Read on.

Baked Couscous (fills a 9×9″ pan)
2 cups uncooked couscous
2 c boiling water or stock + 1/4 c. boiling water or stock
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
sprinkle of pepper
1 large portabella mushroom, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 350. Saute the onion in 1 Tbsp. of the butter until soft.

Pour the couscous into your pan (I used a 9×9″ square) and pour in the 2 cups of the boiling water or stock. Allow the couscous to absorb the liquid. Add the extra 1/4 c. boiling water or stock – ideally you want a little liquid sitting at the bottom of the pan when this process is done. At the most, maybe 1/4 inch, though.

Mix the cooked onion, chopped mushroom, and spices into the pan and mix everything up thoroughly. Dot the top of the casserole with the rest of the butter. Bake, uncovered, on 350 for 20 minutes (or a little longer until the liquid from the bottom of the pan has evaporated). Add additional salt to taste.

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