Seitan Chorizo Crumbles

Oh, dear blog, do you feel neglected yet? My apologies, I think of you often, but then I start wondering what to update you with, and then POOF!: my brain goes into brainiac arrest.

So I suppose that in order to make up for it, I’ll share something the cookbook testers appear to be quite fond of, and that is opening doors to endless variations.
Something that takes next to no time to prepare, and that is quite good indeed, good enough for me to eat a whole batch of it and have it keep me full for over 12 hours*, when the longest I can go without food is usually closer to 4**.

I’ve been having a fling with Trader Joe’s soyrizo, so I thought I’d give a try to replicating it, seitan-style.

These were moderately spicy, so adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking if you’re into super-hot heat.

Notes:
1. I didn’t fry them in extra oil, but if you want to, feel free to use 1/2 tablespoon of oil to brown them up in.
2. If you are super sensitive to vinegar, you could replace 1 tablespoon worth of the stuff with water instead.
3. Use them up anywhere you’d use soyrizo. Or eat them as is.

Seitan Chorizo Crumbles:

1/2 cup (72 g) vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons (16 g) nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion (or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons (35 g) ketchup
1 tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil

In a medium bowl, stir together with a fork: gluten, yeast, salt, cumin, cayenne, paprika, chili, and onion.
Pour water, vinegar, ketchup, and oil on top, stir with a fork and start using your fingertips to turn into small crumbles.
Start frying the chorizo in a large saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 8 minutes, or until browned up.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups, 5.5 ounces, 156 g

*That would be including sleepy time, mind you.
**That would be not including sleepy time…mind you.