Sheet-pan chorizo, potatoes, & tomatoes

With a spicy avocado yogurt sauce, oh my

Hi, friends. Things have been out-of-control hectic around here — having two kids feels really, really hard right now. Nora, who is already quite the velcro baby, is currently in a stage where she needs a lot from us, all the time, which I think makes Sasha need a lot, too.

There’s also the cat that demands constant pets and faucets to be turned on; the load of laundry that I’ve washed three times now because I keep forgetting to switch it over to the dryer; the sheets I haven’t changed in I won’t admit how long; the floors that need to be swept and Swiffered multiple times a day, every single day lest we want to wake up to 1,000,000 ants; nap schedules; school drop-offs and pick-ups; middle-of-the-night wake-ups; crazy stressful bedtime routines… the list goes on.

And, oh yes, there’s dinner. Poor, poor dinner has really been taking a back seat. I’m very much in the mindset most nights that if it’s not simple and fairly hands-off, I’m not making it

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But, that doesn’t mean dinner has to be boring. Not by a long stretch. I firmly believe that something easy to throw together and pop up in the oven can be gloriously tasty and elevated. Something you can be both relieved to have in your arsenal on a busy weeknight and excited to make on a relaxed weekend or serve when you have people over.

Take today’s recipe, for example.

It’s chorizo sausages, potatoes, onions, peppers, and tomatoes, all cooked (mostly) on a baking sheet and then served with a really flavorful, creamy-meets-spicy sauce. I say mostly because the potatoes do get bar-boiled, yes, which does dirty up one extra pot, but I promise it’s worth it for achieving a super satisfying, fluffy-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside texture.

It’s ready in about an hour, with lots of hands-off time so you can tackle all those other things on your to-do list. Or, so you can maybe just sit down with an ice cold drink and relax for a bit? You definitely deserve it. I vote martinis.

P.S.: I’ve included a few substitutions and ways to switch this up in the “Notes” section after the recipe!

I garnished mine with micro arugula, but cilantro or regular arugula would be perf.

Before we start

• We’re going to be using a combination of spices that is pretty much just a quick homemade taco seasoning. Feel free to use a packet of taco seasoning or a couple tablespoons of your favorite jarred one instead. Check if it has salt, though, and adjust accordingly!

• Use the biggest sheet pan you’ve got — the more room you have, the more your potatoes will be able to crisp up.

• Speaking of potatoes! As I mentioned, we’re going to parboil them before putting them on the sheet pan, smash them, and toss them with the rest of our ingredients. This will insure that they are able to fully cook through in the time it takes to bake everything. Personally for this dish, I like to boil them till they’re a bit past fork-tender — I like how this yields a creamy texture with little crispy bits all around as they bake. If you’d prefer for them to retain their integrity a bit more during the baking process, then parboil JUST until fork-tender — this will likely take around 7-10-ish minutes, depending on how big they are. As always, it’s my recipe but your dinner, so tweak it as you see fit!

• I use chorizo sausages that I got from the butcher section in Whole Foods. They are uncooked and quite spicy! If you use sausages that are already cooked, you won’t need to add them until the last 10 minutes when we add the tomatoes.

• The sauce is a spicy, creamy cilantro-avocado-jalapeño-yogurt concoction that comes together super quickly. It’s sort of like guacamole, but the yogurt makes it really creamy and acts as a nice, cooling counterpart to the jalapeño and the spicy chorizo. I like to make it right after putting the food in the oven so I can throw it in the fridge and let it chill till dinnertime.

The recipe

Serves: 4

Ready in: About an hour (with lots of downtime)