Soyriso

Consider me obsessed. I had made my peace with the fattening but satisfying potato/chorizo taco filling by substituting zucchini for sausage. After the Cooking Muse quit my kitchen and I got hit over the head with the vegetarian stick by the vengeful food fairy, I found Soyriso. Yes, you heard me, it's chorizo made out of soy. The folks at Frieda's - the specialty produce people - make it. I'd seen it at Kroger in the organic section and thought I had only imagined it. But when I went back and checked, there it was. It really was called Soyriso and it really did look like the Mexican red sausage in a tube (there is Spanish chorizo - whole other story).

I read the nutrition label and it's not even that bad for you, like some imitation soy meat things can be. I think it's aimed at people under the veggie spell who at one point knew and loved the taste of sausage and also possibly Mexicans (or Texans or New Mexicans all of whom eat chorizo) interested in watching their weight or carbohydrate intake for diabetes control, but probably more the former than the latter. So, off I went to prepare yet another version of potato/chorizo taco filling. When I took it out of the tube it had a kind of gritty texture, which was kind of icky, but the residue in the plastic, though still a meaty-red, was watery instead of oily, which was actually nice.

I followed the recipe exactly and served it up to Lincoln. "It's soy," I said. "No way!" he said. "Parkay," I said. "Butter," he said. Bartleby said, "I don't eat cho-r-ee-tso." It was served alongside Rick Bayless' Mexican Chicken salad and another zucchini taco filling recipe. Yummy. Nothing like a good taco bar lunch on a Sunday. Maybe the muse is back - from Acapulco. For heaven's sake, buy the book. I'm too lazy to re-type the recipes!