Homemade Turkey Chorizo

I love chorizo but it is way too fatty for me, so I make my own with turkey! It really is easy and fairly quick. It does need to be prepared one day ahead though, as the finished product must sit in the fridge overnight for the flavors to marry.


I cook with taste and eyeballing, so the amounts I am giving are approximate and based on my likes, feel free to add/subtract whatever you want!


2 pounds ground turkey breast
8 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 Tablespoons dried oregano, crumbled
8 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Put the turkey into a bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients (pretty difficult huh?). We make out own red wine vinegar, and dry our own oregeno. I like to use two different types of chili powders. The chipolte chili powder has great flavor and heat. 

Mix it thoroughly with your hands, that will ensure everything is thoroughly combined. Smell it, if it is not spicy and super vinegary, add more! Here I added more chipotle chili powder.

 

Pull off a small amount, make it into a patty and fry it in a pan over medium low heat (there is no fat in this so be careful you don't burn it.)

Taste it. It should taste good and spicy. If not, add more of whatever it is lacking. When it seems right, cover the bowl tightly with a few layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, form it into patties weighing the proper amount, wrap each individually and place into a freezer container or bag and freeze. Ground meats will keep about three months. You really don't want to keep them longer as the small pockets of air will allow the fat and meat to go rancid easily.

This chorizo is great in a scramble, as a meat dish, mixed with sautéed vegetables, any way you would eat your lean protein!

Here I have sautéed it with green onions, a whole bag of spinach, 1/2 cup egg whites and a small amount of low fat swiss cheese.

Chorizo

I love Chorizo, who doesn't?

It certainly is not a healthy food group, no matter how you slice it.

The one you see above is a healthy choice, not the best, but if you need to eat chorizo, it's really the only one I have found that fills the bill.

It is also a very good example of how we can read labels and not completely comprehend what the label actually means. 

It is generally accepted that if you are adhering to a "low fat" diet, all of your foods should contain approximately 20% or less fat.  This is not as easy as you think if you eat any animal or packaged products.

 
I  eat this chorizo on occasion, never when I am competing (and I was in competition prep for 8 months this past year because I had three competitions, so I was on a non stop diet that entire time, no chorizo).

Here is the back of the package that shows the nutritional facts:

It looks totally healthy doesn't it? Only 2 grams of fat per serving.

 

But that's not quite the whole truth. You need to be able to interpret what this label is telling you, and it is only telling you what it must according to the law.

You need to look at two keys factors here:

Grams of fat and Total calories

One serving of this chorizo has only 2 little grams of fat. But each gram of fat is worth 9 calories.

2 x 9 = 18 Fat Calories

A serving is a total of 60 calories.

Divide the calories by the fat calories (18 divided by 60) = .30

This "healthy low fat" turkey chorizo is 30% fat......

Not such a healthy choice is it?

So what is that 3% fat they show on the back of the label anyway? That's the percentage of the daily value of fat according to a 2000 calorie diet. I can guarantee you that it is not a diet written for anyone who is attempting to lose body fat and look ripped either. 

So learn to read your labels, don't let them fool you into thinking you are eating healthy. 

Make your own chorizo, I do. In fact, I will be making chorizo turkey cutlets for dinner sometime this week and I will post the recipe. I have done it on a whim before, and posted it but it was a spur of the moment dish. I will put some effort into this one and it will surely be a keeper.

Keep following- it will be soon!