When I first started this food blog, I had already been cooking by a means that  my wife and I called “tempting fate.” We, jokingly, called it that because of the craziness of some things I’d sometimes throw in dishes or the ideas I’d sometimes come up with. When I decided to take on the challenge of cooking a meal once a week of something I had not cooked before, I knew what I had to call it. Hence, the new section on the blog called Tempting Fate. This is my first post in a series that will feature unique dishes from styles cooking that I have not done in the past. These dishes will be everything from vegan to Hungarian. Whatever recipes I can come up with within a given style.

Inspired by Cook Train Eat Race my first post is a vegetarian dish. Jason told me that a simple way to tip-toe into the vegetarian world is with what he called Soyrizo. What is Soyrizo? Well, it’s soy protein mixed with spices that comes out looking and, to our surprise, tasting like chorizo. Chorizo is a Mexican style sausage found in a lot of breakfast dishes. I wanted to do a dinner using Soyrizo as an ingredient, and my wife suggested Jambalaya. We thought it would be a good idea and a great way to mix some complex flavors and still keep it vegetarian. At our local store, I found a brand of Soyrizo from a company called Freida’s, whose biggest claim is 100% vegetarian. So with the Soyrizo in hand, I took my first dive into a vegetarian dish I hope you enjoy.

Soyrizo Jambalaya

Serves 2+

Ingredients

1 pkg Frieda’s Soyrizo Meatless Chorizo

1/2 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

¼ Cup Chopped Onion

2 Tablespoons Garlic, minced

½ Cup Tomato, diced

3 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce

4 Dashes Hot Sauce (adjust for desired heat)

1 Cup rice

1 Tablespoon Thyme

2 Tablespoons Paprika

2 1/2 cups Vegetable Broth

Pepper

Directions

1. Combine the Soyrizo, cajun seasoning, and paprika; mix it well and set it aside (remove the casing from the Soyrizo).
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and onions, and cook until onions or beginning to turn opaque.
3. Add the garlic, tomatoes, hot sauce, Worcestershire, thyme, rice, and broth.
4. Cook everything until the rice absorbs most of the liquid (approximately 15 minutes).
5. Once rice is cooked, add Soyrizo and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Season with pepper to taste (avoid adding salt since the Cajun seasonings come with lots of salt already in them and you can quickly over salt this dish).
7. Enjoy!

Tempting Fate Thoughts:

The dish was great! We enjoyed the flavor of the Soyrizo. My wife and I both would have wanted more meat-like things in the dish. Not knowing vegetarian cooking well, I would need suggestions for next time that we could have a Polish sausage-style ingredient and something to replace the chicken. It was really easy to make and completely fulfilling. I am glad we gave it a go.