Chickpeas with Chorizo

I love any dish made up of beans, some vegetables, and a little meat. Cassoulet is a good example, and a dish I make with canellini beans, kale and hot Italian sausage. Right now, the Spanish permutation is my favorite.

At home, there is an really great Tapas restaurant called Ole Tapas, inconspicuously hidden in a poorly lit strip mall between a Dunkin Donuts and a liquor store. The quality of the food (and drinks) has consistently been better than the more well-known Jose Garces restaurants in Philadelphia. Not that they aren't great, but Ole Tapas does a phenomenal job on vegetables. My favorite is a platter of roasted seasonal vegetables.

My second favorite is a little bowl of chickpeas and chorizo. Maybe because chorizo is the greatest thing ever. Better than bacon. I don't usually set out to recreate things from restaurants, but this isn't exactly restaurant food. After two attempts I've got a version I like quite a bit.
I sauteed a small, thinly sliced onion, added chorizo cut into 1/4 inch half circles, a gratuitous amount of smoked Spanish paprika, a much more conservative pinch of saffron, and a dash of cayenne. I added in a can diced tomatoes, drained, and a can of chickpeas. I stirred in one bunch of spinach, and covered to simmer. I like the fully cooked chorizo, not the hard, cured stuff (although that's pretty amazing as well). I made it once with two sausages (1/2 lb) and once with one (1/4 lb) and I think I like it with just the one but its pretty flexible.