Stewed Up

One of my favourite things about winter (or the onset of winter) is comfort food - stews, soups and curries. I would love to add pasta to that list but given that I'm still trying to lose weight, I'm trying to keep the pasta, potato and rice dishes to a minimum. Having said that, I'll see whip up a pasta meal but make sure I go heavy on the veg. And instead of rice accompanying curries, I use couscous instead. And I try keep potatoes as a minor ingredient in soups and stews (mainly as a thickening agent).

However, one doesn't always have to use potatoes in soups and stews (but if one has a sister who is infinitely fussy with food, then I'd say yes, you should have large pieces in there so that she may pick them more easily and avoid the sweeter veg like carrots and peppers). Whenever I use meat, I'd first toss the pieces in seasoned flour and then just brown for a bit. If there is any access flour (and there usually is) I'd chuck that in later on as well.

Another way of thickening liquid in soups and stews is to use pulses. I'm a huge fan of beans, lentils, barley, etc. For some time, I had been meaning to do my spicy sausage and bean stew and I figured today was as good as any day to do it.I always change things around, I don't think any of my dishes will ever turn out the exact same way. But I do have the basics that go in pretty much every liquid-based dish I make (bar curries). These are garlic, onions, carrots and celery (also tomatoes - tinned and fresh for this). For an added twist, I decided to some fresh corn and fresh green chilis to the mix, with some long beans as well.
I usually use a pre-bought soup mix when I'm using pulses and legumes, adding extra lentils, split peas and barley but I decided to keep it to just barley, whole green lentils, lima beans and borlotti beans this time. To finish off, I used a mix of chorizo (spicy Spanish pork sausages - the use of lots of paprika give it its red colour) and Italian-style pork sausages, in a ratio of about 1:5. However, any sausages (any meat for that matter) can be used here.
This dish does require a bit of preparation with the chopping up of veg, but they don't have to be in small cubes the way I did it; that was purely so that the rest of the veg would 'fit in' with the corn kernels (yes, I'm a bit anal like this, okay?). You can even leave the sausages whole instead of cutting them up. Just make sure you've washed and soaked your pulses a few hours in advance, otherwise they will take AGES to cook. (If you're using tinned varieties, then forget this step, just chuck them in the pot at will)

For stock, you can use veg, chicken or beef stock, and the bought versions are fine. I prefer making my own because I find its cheaper to do so (in Australia anyway) and in this instance, I went with boiling a couple of bacon bones. I find it gives the stock a very nice smokey bacon-ey smell.

But once all that's done, you fry off the chorizo and then the sausages, taking them out of the pot and setting aside when they're more or less cooked. Next goes in the onions, chili, garlic, carrots, etc. I then put the sausages back in and left it for a few minutes before adding the stock, and then gave it another 5 to 10 minutes more before adding the green beans. A scant 30 minutes later and voila! Its all done and ready to eat. Its hearty, its warm, its spicy and its also healthy-ish for you (sausages are a bit of an indulgence). If you want it to be really healthy, make your own sausages. :)