Healthy Vegan - Harissa Aubergine, Kale and Chickpeas

This was not what I had planned to make with the aubergines that have been  nestling at the bottom of the fridge for the past week or so, but I couldn't remember the recipe I had actually planned to make with them.  Do you have days like that?!  Pick up some avocados for something specific then can't remember why and end up just making guacamole with it!

 It didn't matter in the end as this Harissa Aubergine, Kale and Chickpeas dish was lovely.  We had it  early this afternoon after a lovely day in Cardiff where I spent quite a bit of hard earned cash today.  I picked up a gorgeous retro dress from a stall at St Mary's Market in the High Street, (the same place I got my Angry  Persian Aunties);  and a couple of pair of shoes from one of Cardiff's many Arcades, yes you read right, a couple of shoes and I am not even a shoe person.  Honestly they are both for work.  The past three months, and I am not kidding I have been going into work in boots!  Yes, it rains a lot in Wales. 
I wasn't sure how to serve it, it was thick and lush - no liquids for rice or couscous to mop up rice or couscous, so we had it with crusty bread.  I am hoping to finish it off tomorrow or the day after over Jacket Potatoes.   The slow cooking of the kale tasted wonderfully like bitter gourd, I like bitter gourd but it is an acquired taste, I guess so are aubergines.  The aubergines here were roasted in the oven before being added to the thick  rich harissa tomato sauce.



Harissa Aubergine, Kale and Chickpeas  
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 medium aubergines, cubed
4 - 6  tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

2-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green chill, minced
1 x 400grams tin tomatoes, chopped
250grams - 300grams curly kale, stripped from stalks
1 x 400grams tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon Harissa or more or less to taste (either make some see recipe here or from a tube)
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark 7/220oc.
Coat the aubergines in 4 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss well to coat, then transfer to two trays and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until just beginning to golden.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

 In a wide pan, heat the oil and add the onions and garlic and cook slowly, until really soft - this could take up to 20 minutes, then stir in the minced chilli and cook for a few minutes, before stirring in the tomatoes and the harissa paste.
Cook slowly until the sauce is thick and the onions have begun to fall apart with softness.
Stir in the curly kale and cook for 10 minutes until it has begun to wilt, then stir in the roasted aubergine chunks and chickpeas. 
Cook for about 5 minutes, checking the seasoning and tweaking if necessary and then stir in additional Harissa if you wish.
Serve with couscous or plain rice or bread.    

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