Cooking for One: Slow-Cooked Spanish Chicken and Chorizo (Plus Mangria!)

Ever since I moved into my big girl apartment, it has been my dream...nay...my FANTASTY! to throw a fancy themed dinner party. And so a couple weeks ago I decided to host Spanish Supper and Sangria with Stacy, a feast of the senses complete with tapas, sangria, and even a flamenco Pandora station.

Yes, I am a huge dork. Need further evidence? Check out my table setting:

Since I am not a trained Spanish chef, most of the recipes from my party were found online, so I will just include the links to the recipes and final photos at the end of this post. I did, however, develop my own recipe for Slow-Cooked Spanish Chicken and Chorizo and Mangria (that's mango sangria!) so I will go into more detail on those. Ole!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 lb. bulk chorizo. The ground kind, not the links.

1 can artichoke hearts. The kind that are quartered...make sure to drain out the liquid.

1 can white beans. Drain and rinse to get rid of the salty gloop.

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 large handfuls frozen diced onions. I suppose you could always just dice up a fresh onion, but who does that??

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar. Helps to balance out the sweetness of the tomato sauce and smokiness of the chorizo.

1 tsp. paprika. You can't make Spanish food without it!

1 tsp. dried thyme

Okay, okay, this isn't exactly Cooking for One. But sometimes when you live by yourself, it's fun to cook for others every once in a while! Plus, this makes for fantastic leftovers: smoky, sweet, tangy, and savory all in one hearty dish.

Directions:

Heat a pot to medium high heat and crumble up your chorizo. Cook the chorizo until brown, stirring and crumbling as needed. Add in your handfuls of frozen diced onion and cook until soft and translucent.

NOTE: For some reason I can't get these pics to upload correctly even though they are not upside down on my computer. Rotate them in your imagination cause I can't figure this out...kthanx!

Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot and stir to combine. Lower the heat to medium low and let simmer until it begins to bubble.

Add your chicken breasts to a slow cooker and pour the sauce over the top, lifting up the chicken so some sauce gets underneath, too. Cook on low for 4-6 hours until the chicken is practically falling-apart-tender and your house smells like a tapas bar.

Spoon the chicken and sauce onto a plate and enjoy your Spanish feast!

Now, you can't have a Spanish dinner party without sangria. I am pretty sure there are laws against it. So, lucky you, here is a bonus recipe for Mangria!

Ingredients:

Half pitcher of red wine. I filled up half a pitcher with some classy boxed red wine, so I am not sure what the actual amount was.

Half cup of mango vodka. More if it has been a rough day.

Ginger ale. However much is needed to fill up the rest of the pitcher. It's not an exact science, folks.

1 orange

1 apple

Half bag of frozen mixed tropical fruit. Should include mango...duh! No need to thaw.

This is called Mangria because it is mango sangria, but I also highly encourage you to say "What up mang!" when you serve it.

Directions:

Gather together your five star classy alcoholic ingredients.

Fill your pitcher halfway up with the red wine and then add your half cup of mango vodka. Slice your orange in half and add the juice from one half.

Slice up the other orange half, dice up your apple, and add them to the pitcher with the frozen mixed fruit. Fill up the remainder of the pitcher with ginger ale.