Recipe: Black Bean Stew

This is one of those dishes that I just keep on making. Mess around a little with the sausages (although Polish ones so far have had the best result), but do not skip the salsa. It is absolutely delicious and gives a nice fresh zing to everything!

Ingredients for the stew:
– 150 g smoked bacon bits
– 1 large onion, sliced
– 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
– 200 g kabanos sausage (or other smoked sausages)
– 2 bay leaves
– 1 tsp of dried oregano, heaped
– stems from a bunch of fresh cilantro/coriander, finely chopped
– 2x 400 g cans of black beans (NOT drained!)
– 300 ml of hot chicken stock
– 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar (vital!)
– flaked sea salt
– freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for the salsa:
– ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
– 1 tomato, finely diced (or the other ½ of the bell pepper)
– 1 banana shallot, very finely diced
– 1 clove of garlic, very finely diced
– ½ tsp ground cumin
– juice of 1 lime
– leaves from the bunch of cilantro mentioned above, chopped
– flaked sea salt
– freshly ground black pepper

Recipe:
1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan or casserole dish. Add the bacon and onion and fry over medium-high heat for ~4 minutes.
2. Add the garlic & sausages, cook for another minute.
3. Add the bay leaves, oregano and cilantro stems to the pan.
4. Pour in the black beans WITH their juices, and rinse the tins out with chicken stock and pour this in too.
5. Add the vinegar, and season with black pepper. (also salt if the beans were unsalted)
6. Bring the pan to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
7. While this is simmering, make the salsa by chopping and combining the ingredients listed above.
8. Taste the stew for acidity, add some extra red wine vinegar if needed.
9. Serve the stew in bowls with the salsa on the side.

**all credit to Si&Dave