Cabbage and Chorizo

It's been a few years since the only good Mexican restaurant in central North Dakota closed.  It was called Los Amigos.  And I adored it.

I still see the former owner, Celia, around town sometimes.  She's doing fine - less stress, for certain, and I'm hoping the CVS pharmacy that now stands where her restaurant used to be paid a pretty penny for the real estate.  A couple times a year she'll make her amazing tamales for Catholic charity fundraisers and I stalk those events for my tamale fix.  Heck, she could be raising money for Nazi youth and I'd still probably buy a half dozen.

Los Amigos had a lunch buffet and whenever I was filling my plate with homemade Mexican deliciousness, I always grabbed an extra big helping of the cabbage and chorizo.  With nostalgia driving my appetite, when it came time to plan out our annual sausage-making day, I requested a few pounds of chorizo to accompany our usual assortment of brats, Italian, summer, and country sausages.  Kent happily obliged and this was the first thing I made with my chorizo treasure.

In my days as an exchange student in Spain, I knew of chorizo as a thin, dry, smoked sausage, but here I'm talking about Mexican chorizo, which is a fresh (unsmoked) sausage, not super spicy, just lots of paprika and some chili powder. It's a nice change from the German sausage flavors we're used to up in the Great White North. And even though I used venison chorizo, I still think Celia would approve.

Cabbage and Chorizo
It doesn't get any easier than this.  Of course, this is open to improv - chopped garlic, extra cumin or coriander, or some diced tomatoes would all be lovely.  Venison sausage folks can get chorizo seasoning at their local butcher shop; otherwise, check the grocery store for pork chorizo. I served it with scrambled eggs and some orange slices on the side - a little breakfast for dinner never hurt anyone.  

1 small head of green cabbage, cleaned, cored, and chopped
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage

Crumble chorizo in a large saute pan or pot.  Cook over medium heat until nearly cooked through.  Add cabbage and a little water or sherry if needed.  Cover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is soft.  Serve hot.