Israeli Couscous with pine nuts and parsley

**This is a DELICIOUS side dish!  I thought it sounded weird since it had a cinnamon stick in it, but it was great!  The whole family loved it.  It made enough to serve a hungry family of 5!  I used the pearl couscous (you can buy it for less at Trader Joe's).

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter, divided (I didn't use butter since I don't eat butter...I substituted olive oil instead)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
1/2 large cinnamon stick
1 fresh or dried bay leaf (I used dry)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I used vegetable broth since I don't eat meat)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup parsley, minced
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup raisins, optional (I used golden raisins from Trader Joe's.  I loved the raisins in it!)
black pepper, to taste

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large saucepan (I used no butter/oil. I dry toasted them) over medium-low heat.  Add pine nuts and stir until golden brown.  Transfer to a small bowl.

Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter (I used 1 tsp olive oil) in the same pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and sauté until golden.  Add couscous, cinnamon and bay leaf, and stir often until couscous browns slightly.  Add broth and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until liquid
is absorbed and couscous is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in parsley, pine nuts and lemon zest.  Add the raisins and season with black pepper.