Chorizo, Butternut Squash, and Kale Burrito

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased some chorizo at the Matthews Farmers Market from Grateful Growers. Grateful Growers is a wonderful local farm located in eastern Lincoln County. They operate both the Harvest Moon Grille Food Truck and the Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill in Charlotte. The primary focus of their 10 acre farm is raising Tamworth Hogs. Grateful Grower’s animals are hormone and antibiotic-free and graze freely in pastures. Their meats contain no fillers, preservatives, nitrates, or MSG. You can find their meats at the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and the Matthews Farmers Market. Reids Fine Foods also carries a selection of Grateful Grower’s products.

When I asked about cooking suggestions for chorizo, the lady from Grateful Growers suggested cooking it with butternut squash. So I did. And it was wonderful. Their chorizo is deliciously spiced with a much more complex flavor than the chorizo available at the grocery store. It has some heat, but also contains some non-hot spices. There’s something like allspice or maybe cinnamon in it that creates a wonderful fall-like flavor. The sweetness of the butternut squash is a nice complement to the chorizo. I threw in some kale for no other reason than I’m trying to cook more with it.

Chorizo, Butternut Squash, and Kale Burrito

• 1 lb chorizo
• 1 butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 bunch of Kale, rinsed and ripped into pieces, discard large stems
• olive oil
• 1 cup rice, cooked
• 4 burrito size flour tortillas

How to Do it

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. While oven heats, brown chorizo in a large nonstick skillet until cooked through. Remove from heat until squash is ready.
3. Place squash on baking sheet and drizzle with oil and season with salt. Roast for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Once squash is done, heat chorizo over medium heat and add kale. Stir to help kale wilt down evenly. If you want the kale to retain some crunch, only cook for a  minute or two. Add in butternut squash and remove from heat.
5. Place 1/4 cup of rice on each tortilla (warm the tortillas in the microwave to make more pliable) and add desired amount of chorizo mixture. Roll up tortillas burrito-style.

Yield: 4 servings