Lentejas (Spanish Lentils)

When I was an exchange student in Spain, the family had an amazing helper named Rosario that helped around the house. She is an amazing cook and a few years ago when I was visiting the family she spent some time teaching me to make my favorite recipes.

The recipe usually has whole brown lentils. I couldn't find them and used split yellow lentils. The end result isn't as pretty, but still tastes fine.

Ingredients

1 package lentils

1/2 onion, whole

1/2 tomato, whole

1 green pepper, seeds removed

1 carrot, chopped

1 small potato, peeled and quartered

1 head of garlic, unpeeled

1 bay leaf

A few dashes of hot chili sauce

1 T of chili powder

~ 1 teaspoon of rock salt

~1/2 cup olive oil

chorizo (optional)

Add a handful of lentils for each serving. Add the amount of water as directed by the package, as brands may vary. Add the other ingredients and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.

When finished, add chorizo (if you cannot get chorizo, spicy sausage may do.) Cut in small, round pieces. Cook beans until liquid condenses to the consistency of canned beans and the lentils are soft. Add chorizo if desired. I remove the leftover skins from the green pepper, tomato, the garlic, bay leaf and serve the lentils with the other vegetables.