Do you have a husband who is crazy for soy chorizo? Is your freezer full of a dozen packages of this stuff and are not quite sure what to do with it? Well.......let me give you some suggestions. I had to figure out what to do with all this soy chorizo before it went bad. You can only get this at Trader Joe's so if you are Canadian like us and loco for soyrizo like CC, you need to stock up every time you go Stateside. I have a few recipes I can share now, but I suspect there will be more in the next coming months once CC hits the road again.
*Warning* If you haven't tried this stuff yet I need to tell you in advance that it is addictive - proceed with caution! P.S. These are not "low cal" recipes. Just sayin'.
*Recommended listening for soyrizo partying;
Wipers - Over The Edge
Suicide -Suicide
Nine Nine Nine - High Energy Plan
1) Soy Chorizo And Collards On Baked Potato
What you will need for a 2 person dinner (double and triple as needed):
- 1/2 package of soy chorizo
- about 5 leaves of collards
- 1 small or med size onion (depending on how much you like onions)
- 2 med size baking potatoes or yellow potatoes or yams- go crazy
- about a tbls olive oil- plus a bit extra
- white button mushrooms - as many as you like (optional)
- garlic powder, pepper, hot sauce (optional)
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 450°
- Clean and prep potatoes.
- Stab potatoes a few times with a fork so they don't explode, then place on baking pan.
- At this point you may want to lightly brush on some oil (or use a bit of vegan margarine) on the potato so it wont dry out.
- Bake potato for 30-40 minutes (check occasionally to see if it's ready- some ovens may vary)
- While potatoes are baking begin prepping collards. Wash off all the dirt and grit and chop off stems (if you don't like the thick vein in the middle of the leaf you can cut that out as well). Stack all 5 leaves together, roll leaves like a cigar then cut into strips. Set aside.
(*Note: If you choose vegan sour cream for your topping you may want to cook your collards and chorizo 15-20 minutes before potatoes are ready because you will want everything hot. If you choose to top with vegan cheese you can prep all this all and let the collards and chorizo sit in warm pan then add mix to potato, top with vegan cheese and warm and melt in the over for a few more minutes.)
- Next, clean and chop mushrooms. Chop onions into small pieces, then sautée onions in a pan with a tbsp of oil on high until they are golden brown.
- Remove casing from soy chorizo and sautée in pan with onion for approximately 30-60 secs.
- Add collards and any of the extra spices listed above (*note: you may also want to add a bit of water to to allow collards to steam - not much - 1/4 cup add as needed). Cover pan with lid and reduce to low heat and let the collards soften up. This should take about 10 minutes or so (check occasionally - you don't want anything to burn). Let all the flavours of the soy chorizo and onions mix with the collards.
- Once potatoes are ready, remove from oven, make an incision down the middle of potato and open it up a bit. Spoon chorizo and collard mix on to potato - top with vegan sour cream. If using vegan cheese, add cheese top and pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.
2) Soy Chorizo Shepherd's Pie
Here is what you what you will need:
- 1 package of soy chorizo
- 2 med yams
- 1 bunch of kale
- 2 small onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1tsp. oil (olive)
- 1 tsp. (or more if you like) of vegan margarine
- 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk
- sweet spanish paprika (optional)
- Cholula Hot Sauce
- Salt / Pepper
You will need 1 pot, 1 sautée or frying pan with lid and one round baking dish or a smaller rectangular baking dish.
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 425°
-YAMS: Clean and prep yams. You can leave the skin on for more fibre if you want. Chop into small cubes so they boil faster. Fill a med sized pot with enough water to cover potatoes + a bit more then boil potatoes until soft. Once potatoes are cooked, drain water, add non-diary milk, vegan margarine, salt and pepper. Mix, and mash. Set aside.
-KALE: While waiting for the yams to cook begin prepping kale. Wash well and chop off stems. Chop into largish size pieces. Set aside. Dice onions, chop or press garlic and add to sautée pan with 1 tblsp. of oil. Sautée onions and garlic until onions are translucent then add a splash or two of water and throw in the kale and add bit of salt and pepper. Cover and let the kale steam for a few minutes until slightly wilted. Stir occasionally.
-Next, remove casing from soy chorizo and spread evenly on bottom of baking dish. Then layer kale and onion mix and spread mashed yams on top. Sprinkle a bit of sweet spanish paprika on top.
-Bake for aprox. 20-30 minutes.
Note: The pie below was actually made with collards instead of kale so if you prefer collards, substitute for kale.
3) Soy Chili
Ingredients:
- 1 package soy chorizo
- 1 large can (796ml) stewed diced tomatoes
- 1 red and 1 green pepper
- 2 med onions
- 3-5 cloves garlic (depending on taste)
- 1 large yam
- 2 small zucchinis or 1 large
- A bunch of white button mushrooms - I usually use a whole package
- 1 can of corn
- 1 can of red kidney beans -540ml (optional)
Spices:
- 1 tblsp cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder (chorizo is spicy but you can adjust chili powder to 1-2 tbls to make it spicier)
- 2 tblsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp coriander
- salt to taste: soy chorizo is loaded with sodium so taste it before adding more salt.
Slow Cooker Method
- Dice onions. Chop or press garlic and then sautée in pan until golden brown. Set aside.
- Wash and chop yam into cube size pieces (I leave the skin on)
- Wash and dice mushrooms, zucchini, red and green peppers.
- Add diced tomato to slow cooker pot, then add onions garlic and spices. Stir. Add all veggies including canned corn and beans (drain & rinse first). Give it a stir. Cook for 2-4 hours on low. (I think all slow cookers are slightly different so check the times- I used the Wolfgang Puck digital so it's the "slow cook" setting.
Stovetop
If you don't have a slow cooker you can use large (5.4 litre) pot and cook on the stove. Cook on low heat or simmer for an hour, stirring and checking occasionally.
4) Soy Chorizo Hot Cheese Dip
I made this for an xmas party. Veg as well as meat eaters loved this. Unfortunately I don't have a picture. It was all gone before I remembered to snap a photo. That's a good sign though. Right?
Ingredients:
- 1 package of soy chorizo (You can probably use Yves Veggie Ground and spice it with taco seasoning. I am sure that will work just as good.)
- 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 red pepper
- 1 container of toffutti cream cheese
- 1/2 cup Daiya chedder flavor (you can add more if you like)
- 1/4 cup toffuti sour cream
- 2 med onions
- 2 med onions
- 2-5 cloves of garlic (this depends on much you like garlic)
- 1 tbls olive oil
*Note: I didn't add extra spices or salt. I just used the chorizo flavour but you can add chili flakes, salt, cilantro etc.
I prepared this in a slow cooker but I am sure you can make it in a pot on the stove. I would just keep in on low heat and stir lot so it doesn't stick to bottom of pot.
Directions:
- Sautée onion and garlic in some 1 tbsp olive oil until translucent or light brown.
- Once the the onions and garlic are ready throw everything in the pot and heat it up. I use "slow cook" for an hour but then stopped around once in started bubbling (15-20mins) then I set the slow cooker to "keep warm". Stir it often.
- Serve with, tortilla chips, bread, garlic bread, crackers.
*** A Friend just sent a photo for this post
Photo courtesy of J.Tetreau
Stay tuned for more Soyrizo recipes. - B
