“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” — Unknown

Don’t you just hate it when manufacturers change something in one of your favorite products, and not for the better? I used to buy a bean stew mix that was marvelously flavorful. It was one of those rare foods with easy preparation, easy clean-up, enough for leftovers, and 100% family approval — even the little kids liked it. Then they went and changed it, and it was just…meh. I could never put my finger on what, exactly, was different. So began my quest to replicate the original; quite a challenge, as I hadn’t had any in years. I imagine I didn’t quite nail it, but this easy stew is so tasty that I no longer care! I scaled it down, now that we’re empty-nesters, to produce dinner for two with leftovers for one, but you could easily double it. I also decided to go with cooked garbanzos, just to save time. The easiest way to cook the chorizo is to make extra sometime when it’s on the menu and use the leftovers for the stew. One less thing to prepare! If you’re cooking the chorizo just for this, you can cook it on the stove or grill. I prefer the grill, but that’s mostly because that means there’s no pan to clean.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

4 oz (115 g) chopped onion, about 1 small

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 (14.5 oz/411 g) can no salt added petite-cut diced tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground Aleppo pepper (may substitute ancho or paprika, but may need more crushers.)

⅛ to ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper, a.k.a. “crushers.”

⅛ teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon pepper

⅛ teaspoon salt

⅛ tsp thyme 

1/16 teaspoon ground star anise

½ cup (120 ml) water (or bean broth, if you cooked your own)

1½ cups cooked or canned garbanzos, drained (about 8½ oz, or 250 g)

4 small links (5.75 oz/163g  total) Mexican Chorizo, cooked and sliced

4 oz (115 g) green beans

Preparation:

1.) Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions; cook until they begin to soften and brown. 

2.) Add the minced garlic. Stirring frequently, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

3.) Pour in the can of tomatoes with their juice. Stir, scraping to release all the yummy browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the next 11 ingredients (bay leaf through star anise.)

 

4.) Add the water and the garbanzos. Bring to a steady simmer and cook until heated through and the liquid has reduced to desired thickness, about 10 to 15 minutes. 

5.) While the pot simmers, break the green beans into bite-size pieces. Stir into the pot for the last minute or two of simmering. 

6.) Slice the cooked sausage and add it to the pot. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.