I am a huge fan of chili. Not only is it filling, full of protein, fiber-rich, and delicious, but I also find it to be quite comforting. A couple of weeks ago I made a delicious vegetarian chili ( http://cleaneatingveggiegirl.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/ ), but I decided that the next time I made chili I wanted to add some “meatiness” (is that a word? 😉 ) into the mix. The perfect solution: soyrizo!
Soyrizo is essentially the vegetarian version of chorizo. If you are not aware, chorizo is a spicy, Mexican sausage (don’t worry it is not TOO spicy!) which is used a lot in Mexican cooking. Before I was a vegetarian I cooked with chorizo when making enchiladas and often enjoyed it at restaurants. So when I saw that they make a vegan, soy-based version of the meat I was ecstatic!. I just knew that the addition of soyrizo to my already yummy chili recipe would be perfect to give it that meat taste and a spicy flare.
I also felt good about the addition of soyrizo to my chili recipe as the nutritional stats are quite good (though it is a bit high in sodium), it is cholesterol free, it is vegan, and it contains waaay less fat and calories than regular chorizo. Plus, it tastes nearly identical to its meat counterpart.
For my spicy soyrizo chili, I began by cutting the soyrizo out of its casing and warming it in a pan sprayed with EVOO cooking spray over medium-high heat. This only takes about 5 minutes.
Other than this simple, quick addition, I followed my original vegetarian chili recipe (posted above ^) exactly, except I chose to omit the can of black beans. You could certainly leave the black beans in the recipe depending on how chunky you like your chili.
All it took was one simple addition, and I had a new, spicy take on my original chili recipe. So you may be wondering…how did it taste? It was pretty darn tasty, if you ask me! Though I might be a little biased. 😉
