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.

Fiery Sausage Curry

I came up with this recipe to help cure one of hubby’s pesky head colds. The curry is armed with enough chillis and black pepper to clear any stuffed nose, and the tangy-ness of vinegar and tomatoes is perfect for cleansing a sick-bed palate. The trick is to use hot Italian sausages, or, even better, fresh chorizo, to bolster the heat of the spices. Chicken sausages are fine in a pinch, but lamb or pork have the preferable body and complexity.

Ingredients 

Marinade: 

1 medium Onion, quartered
2 medium Tomatoes, quartered
6 cloves Garlic
2” piece Ginger, peeled
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp Turmeric
3 tbsp Red Chilli powder (or less, according to taste)
½ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
½ cup white Vinegar

2 lbs [1 kg] spicy Sausage (I prefer fresh chorizo, hot Italian, or merguez), cut into 1” pieces
5 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 whole Cloves
2 whole Cardamom pods
2 sticks Cinnamon
4 Bay leaves
1 medium Onion, diced
1 tsp Brown Sugar
Salt (to taste)
2 cups Water
6–8 fresh Green Chillis, minced
¼ cup Cilantro, finely chopped

1. Put onion, tomatoes, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Pour into a large bowl, add garam masala, ground coriander and cumin, turmeric, chilli powder, black pepper, and vinegar, and stir. 
2. Add sausage to marinade and mix well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sausage marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and up to 1 day. One hour before cooking, remove sausage from fridge and bring down to room temperature. Shake off any excess marinade from sausage, and reserve all of the marinade for use later in the recipe. 
3. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, over high heat. Add sausage in batches and brown well on both sides. Remove sausage from pot and set aside in a large bowl. 
4. Add remaining 3 tbsp vegetable oil to the pot. When the oil is smoking, add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaves, stir for about 1 min and allow the spices to swell. Add onions and fry for 5–7 mins, until golden brown and well caramelised. Add brown sugar and continue frying for 1 min. 
5. Add reserved marinade to the pot. Stir briskly for about 3–5 mins, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, until the oil starts to separate from the spice mixture. 
6. Add sausage and accumulated juices to the pot and stir well to coat sausage pieces thoroughly with spices. Add salt and water, stir, and bring to a brisk boil. Then lower heat, put the lid on the pot, and simmer for 1½ hrs. Stir the curry every ½ hour while it is cooking. If the liquid in the pot becomes insufficient, add 2-3 tbsps of water at a time, as needed. 
7. You know the curry is ready when the sausage feels tender when prodded with a fork, and a dense, creamy gravy has formed. Turn off heat, stir-in green chillis and cilantro, and put the lid back on. Allow the flavours to steep for 15 mins. Serve hot with rice or naan.