Spiced Couscous Salad with Grilled Vegetables

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 1/2
  
  cup whole grain couscous
  
• 1
  
  cup cooked chickpeas
  
• 2
  
  long medium eggplants
  
• 2
  
  medium zucchini
  
• 1
  
  yellow or white medium onion
  
• 5-6
  
  Dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil
  
• 6-7
  
  basil leaves
  
• 1
  
  tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  
• 
  
  (extra) a handful of chopped almonds and raisins
  
• 
  
  lemon juice, to taste
  

For the Dressing

• 2
  
  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1
  
  teaspoon harissa
  
• 1/2
  
  teaspoon paprika
  
• 1/4
  
  teaspoon ground coriander
  
• 1/4
  
  teaspoon cinnamon
  
• a big
  
  pinches of salt
  

Directions

1. To grill the vegetables, preheat your grill (or, alternatively, a nonstick or cast-iron pan). Cut the eggplant, zucchini and onion into 1/4 inch slices, and grill them in batches. Because they are cut quite thin, they should take no more than one minute per side. Dress the vegetables with the oil, a good pinch of salt and half the basil leaves. Finely shred them before mixing them in. Add a minced clove of garlic or two if you like it!
2. Cook the couscous according to package direction. Fro while grain, it is usually enough to let it sit in an equal amount of boiling water, covered, for 15 minutes. If you want to make things quicker you can use canned chickpeas, just make sure you rinse and dry them well.
3. To make the dressing, just mix all the ingredients together and stir well. Some toasted and ground sesame seeds make for a nice addition.
   Also, finely chop the dried tomatoes and prepare the raisins and almonds, of using.
4. To assemble, Toss all the ingredients with the dressing. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, to taste.
   You can make this salad even heartier by adding some sliced avocado, or a poached egg.