Braised Red Chard with Tomatoes, Chickpeas and Spicy Sausage

This is one of those super versatile dishes that I came up with using leftovers in my fridge. And like all truly great leftover recipes, you can easily substitute a lot of the main ingredients with whatever you have handy. If red chard is not available, then spinach or kale will do just as well; red kidney beans or black-eyed peas can swap-in for chickpeas; and any savoury or cured meat (bacon/sausage/ham) will do. Serve it as a side dish or, even better, as a main course, piled on top a steaming mound of couscous or rice.

Ingredients 

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
12 oz [340 gms] Spicy Sausage (like Chorizo or Spicy Italian), cut into ½”-thick pieces
1 tbsp whole Fennel seeds
2 sticks Cinnamon
2 Bay leaves
3 cloves Garlic, finely minced
4 small Tomatoes, chopped
1½ lbs [750 gms] Red Chard, washed and cut into 2-inch strips, including stalks
16oz [½ kg] canned Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
Salt (to taste)
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
½ tsp Chili powder
Juice of ½ Lemon (reserve the leftover lemon—rind, pith, and pulp—cut into quarters, for use later in the recipe)
½ cup Chicken stock, or Water
1/3 cup Cilantro, finely chopped

1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet or frying pan. When the oil is smoking, add sausage and brown evenly on both sides. Remove sausage onto a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. 
2. Add remaining oil to same pan and heat. Add fennel, cinnamon, and bay leaves and allow the spices to sputter for 1 minute. Add garlic and stir for 1–2 mins, until lightly golden. Add tomatoes and cook for 3–4 mins, until they start to break down. 
3. Add chard in batches and stir briskly until the leaves are wilted. Add sausage, chickpeas, salt, pepper, chilli powder, lemon juice, and lemon pieces and stir well. Add chicken stock, lower heat, and continue cooking for 5 mins. 
4. Turn off heat, sprinkle with cilantro and let sit for 5 mins. Serve hot over steamed couscous or rice.

Tomato Chickpea Feta Salad

This is one of my favourite, year-round salads, even more delicious when made with sweet, ripe, summer tomatoes. Once the prep-work is done, the salad comes together in a jiffy, and is best made a day ahead to allow the flavours to steep.

Ingredients 

1 lbs [½ kg] grape or cherry Tomatoes, cut in half
1 can [16 oz / ½ kg] Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
16 oz. [½ kg] Feta cheese, cut into ½” cubes
4 cloves Garlic, finely minced
½ cup Parsley, finely chopped
1/8 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Salt (to taste)
1/3 cup extra virgin Olive Oil

1. In a large bowl, gently mix tomatoes, chickpeas and feta with a spatula or wooden spoon, taking care not to bruise the tomatoes. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and toss well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3–4 hours, and preferably up to a day. 
3. Remove from fridge and serve at room temperature.

Broccoli Rabe and Chickpeas with Cumin and Dried Red Chillis

Rapini, also known as Broccoli Rabe, has a distinct bitter taste, which mellows when charred. The key is to cook it in a smoking hot skillet without any oil or fat. I paired that delicious blackened flavour with the smokiness of cumin and dried red chillis, and the sweetness of caramelized shallots and garlic. This dish is great served warm, or just as delicious when made ahead of time and put out as cold antipasti.

Ingredients 

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1½ tbsp whole Cumin
6–8 whole Dried Red Chillis
3 Shallots, finely sliced
3–4 cloves of Garlic, cut into thin slivers
1½ lbs [700 gms] Broccoli Rabe, washed and with the ends of the stalks trimmed off
16 oz [2 cups] canned Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
Salt (to taste)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or frying pan over high heat until smoking. Add cumin and dried red chillis and stir briskly for about a minute until the chillis just start to blacken. Lower heat to medium, add shallots and fry for about 3 mins until they are lightly golden. Add garlic and stir for another min. Remove skillet from heat and pour shallot-garlic-spice mixture, including the oil, into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the same skillet until smoking. Add broccoli rabe and sauté for 5–7 mins until the ends start to char and blacken. Add chickpeas and salt, and continue to stir for another 2–3 mins, making sure the greens are evenly charred and the chickpeas start taking on some colour.
3. Turn off heat, add shallot-garlic-spice mixture to skillet, and stir well. Put a lid on the skillet and let sit for 5 mins before serving.

North African-Inspired Ground Lamb Stew with Chickpeas, Preserved Lemons and Olives

Tasty Boy loves keema (which is what ground meat is called in Hindi and Bengali). Not a particular keema recipe, but any form of ground meat. So I have 3 to 4 favourite keema recipes that I tend to rotate on a bi-weekly basis and constantly tinker with for variety. I came up with this recipe in a fit of boredom with my existing repertoire. It’s inspired by many of the stewed meat recipes by May Bsisu and Claudia Roden, but doesn’t strictly adhere to either of them. This is a colourful, tangy, one-pot mish-mash of North African and Mediterranean flavours, which beautifully enhance the sweet gamy-ness of lamb, and is perfect by the bowlful, sopped-up with a pillowy mound of couscous or rice.

 Ingredients
3 tbsp whole Coriander
1 tbsp whole Cumin
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Bay leaves
1 large Onion, sliced
2 whole Cinnamon sticks
3 whole Cardamom pods
6 cloves Garlic, roughly smashed
3 Carrots, peeled and chopped into 1”-thick chunks
2 lbs ground Lamb
2 tbsp Harissa powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 lbs canned Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
2 whole Preserved Lemons, cut into quarters
2 cups Olives, whole
Salt (to taste)
1 cup Parsley, roughly chopped
4 cups Water
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. In a large, flat-bottomed pot, dry-roast the cumin and coriander together over high heat for 3-4 mins until golden brown. Remove spices from pot and grind them with a mortar and pestle. Set aside. 
2. In the same pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bay leaves, onions, cinnamon and cardamom, and gently fry for 4-5 mins until the onions are glossy and translucent. Add garlic and carrots and continue frying for another 5 mins. 
3. Add ground lamb and cook for 5-7 mins until the lamb has lost its pinkish colour. Then add harissa powder, ground coriander and cumin, chilli powder and black pepper, stir well, and continue cooking for 5 mins. 
4. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, preserved lemons, olives, salt and parsley and stir well. Add water and bring to a brisk boil, then lower heat, put the lid on the pot, and simmer for 45 mins-1hr, stirring occasionally. If the pot starts to get dry add ½ cup of water at a time, as required. 
5. Turn off heat and let sit for 15-20 mins. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve over couscous or rice.