Hope everyone had a great St. Paddy's weekend. Mr. S. and I spent most of it playing catch up. He was gone all of last week with his eldest son on a fieldtrip to the Marin Headlands while I puppysat this cute little guy at his house. (Yes, I spoiled the furball rotten. He's my baby.)
It was nice to have Mr.S. back in town again. We hung out with his kidlets on Friday night and then Saturday night we went to see our friend's band, Ghost River, play at Old I. The place was packed and a good time was had by all...and a lot of Jamesons was also had by all.
Sunday, I headed back to my cottage in the Grid in the afternoon and was welcomed by not one...but two hailstorms! The storms knocked all the blossoms off the trees in my courtyard and when intermingled with the ice pellets, it looked like it had snowed.
Anyhow, it was nice to get back into my normal groove with cooking this week and this recipe was the perfect recipe for two reasons. It fit the bill of being a nice hearty dish for the sudden cold weather we've been having and it turned out to be a superb hangover dish. I did tweak it a little by adding in some sliced baby portabella mushrooms to bulk it up more (and because Mr. S. is nuts about mushrooms) and I decided to use green lentils because I think they taste better. (Tip: buy your green lentils at your local Mediterranean store, it's much cheaper than the gourmet grocery stores in town and just as good.) Also, be sure you are using Mexican chorizo for this recipe not Spanish chorizo, they are completely different types of meat. The end result was- we all loved it. The dish is really flavorful. Even me, the "lentil hater," approved.
Crockpot Chorizo & Lentils (adapted from a recipe by My Kitchen Addiction)
Ingredients
1 pound of Mexican chorizo or Mexican longaniza, casings removed
(you can find this at your neighborhood Mexican supermarket. I buy mine at Mercado Loco)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound dry green lentils- picked over, rinsed & drained
1 – 15 ounce can tomato sauce
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Instructions
1. Remove the chorizo (or longaniza) from the casing and brown over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook the vegetables until they're tender.
2. Place the lentils, broth, tomato sauce and spices in the crockpot. When the chorizo and vegetables are done, add them into the crockpot too. Mix together well.
3. Cover. Set the crockpot for low and cook for 5-6 hours until the lentils are tender.
4. Stir ingredients well and serve hot.
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