Chorizo and Eggs Without the Guilt: It's Turkey!

When I was a kid, my mom made chorizo and eggs on special occasions. My mom has always been health conscious and she didn't want me to eat too much fat. The traditional way to eat chorizo and eggs is with potatoes in a small burrito or with frijoles (refried beans) and break off a bit of your warm torilla to scoop up a bit of egg, chorizo, frijoles, and even potatoes in every bite. These days you can find turkey chorizo at specialty grocery stores to cut back on the fat, but you keep the spicy unique flavor of chorizo.

Yesterday, I was shopping at Whole Foods, looking for turkey chorizo in the butcher's cold case, but they didn't have any laid out. When I asked the butcher for it he offered to make it for me. They have the Chorizo-spice mix behind the counter and he mixed seasoning into 1/2 pound of ground turkey thigh meat for me. He only charged me for the ground meat, even with extra service. I was so happy! What a great tip! I didn't know before that you could ask them to mix it for you on-site.

This morning for Sunday breakfast, I made the chorizo, egg, and potato burrito and it tasted really great and authentic, minus the fat from the traditional Mexican (pork) chorizo! Here is the recipe so you can make it for your family.

Turkey Chorizo, Egg, and Potato Breakfast Burrito
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound turkey chorizo (ask your butcher to mix it)
• 3 small golden potatoes
• 1/2 tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 eggs (2 per person)
• 1/4 cup low-fat shredded Mexican-style cheeses (Cheddar, Monterrey Jack)
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro
• 4 flour torillas

Preparation:

• Preheat medium skillet. Wash and peel potatoes. Cover with wax paper and cook in the microwave for 5 minutes on HIGH.
• Chop the cilantro and set aside in a small bowl. Serve shredded cheese in another small bowl to start to build your assembly line.
• While potatoes are cooking, cook turkey chorizo in a skillet coated with cooking spray, over medium-heat. Break apart the meat as you cook it so it cooks in small bits. Set aside in a bowl covered with foil to keep warm.
• Cut the potatoes in small pieces and season with salt and pepper. In the same pre-heated skillet that you used to cook the turkey chorizo, add 1/2 tbs of olive oil and then the potatoes to warm and season. Cook for 2 minutes and set aside in a bowl covered with foil to keep warm.
• Warm the tortillas in the oven (on 350 degrees in foil) or you can warm them in the microwave with a wet paper towel on top (for 1 minute).
• Crack eggs and add into to a mixing bowl and whisk with a fork. Using the same skillet (since it's already warm), spray with cooking spray, if needed and scramble the eggs. After the eggs are cooked through, serve the eggs in another serving dish or let your family serve themselves from the skillet.
• To the warm tortilla, add the potatoes first to absorb the flavor from the chorizo. Then add chorizo, scrambled eggs, cheese, and cilantro. Fold the tortilla over and warm if needed. Eat immediately!

For best results, let everyone build their own burrito so they can customize the amounts they want of each item. For spice lovers, hot sauce or salsa on top adds even more heat, but the chorizo is already spicy so add with caution! Enjoy!