Tucked away between the tofu “cheeses” and textured vegetable protein taco crumbles lies a tiny package you really should consider including in your lineup of go-to good-for-you ingredients — soy chorizo.
Even if you are a steak-loving meat eater, soy chorizo is worth keeping on hand, even if you aren’t normally a fan of pretend meat (as I am not).
Chorizo — the real deal, that is — is a spicy, fatty pork sausage oozing with flavor. Fresh (or Mexican) chorizo is most common in the United States, though sometimes you’ll find the Spanish or dried version. Chorizo is used primarily to accent other ingredients, mixed in with scrambled eggs, sautéed with vegetables, or added to stuffings, stews or chilies.
Soy chorizo usually is a Mexican-style chorizo, and it’s just as versatile and flavorful as the real thing. And like the pork version, it usually comes in tube-shaped sausage casings. Squeeze the chorizo out of the casings and it cooks up like ground meat. As it cooks, the chorizo imparts its wonderfully spicy, slightly fatty sauce that makes everything better.