chorizo breakfast bowls

Every time I'm at the store, I see these little tubes of "chorizo" over by the cheese, tortillas and other refrigerated mexican food items. I've heard good things about chorizo and at only $0.98 for a 10 oz. tube, I had to try to work it into my menu. I decided on a savory breakfast dish with a grits base, chorizo and vegetable hash and, of course, a fried egg (I LOVE EGGS!). The chorizo was a little different than I expected texturally but the flavor was absolutely fantastic. Because the chorizo has such a high fat content, I knew this dish would be pretty heavy and rich. You may want to balance the meal out with a fresh piece of fruit.



Total Recipe cost: $3.49
Servings Per Recipe: 5
Cost per serving: $0.70
Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 25 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
3/4 cup	quick cooking grits (uncooked)	$0.17
2 Tbsp	butter	$0.10
10 oz.	pork chorizo	$0.98
1 medium	bell pepper	$0.68
1/2 medium	yellow onion	$0.22
3 medium	roma tomatoes	$0.51
5 large	eggs	$0.78
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$3.49

STEP 1: In a medium pot, bring 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt to a boil with a lid on. When the water comes to a boil, stir in 3/4 cup of dry quick cooking grits, reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on until thickened (5-7 min).



STEP 2: While the water is coming to a boil and the grits are cooking, chop the onion and bell pepper into small pieces. Roughly chop the tomatoes into chunks.

STEP 3: In a large skillet, cook the chorizo over medium/high heat. The chorizo has such a high fat content that no extra oil should be needed.

STEP 4: Once the chorizo is cooked through, add the onion and bell pepper. Stir and cook until the vegetables have softened (about 5 minutes). Once softened, add the tomato and continue to cook and stir for about 1-2 minutes more. The juices from the tomato will help lift the flavor off of the bottom of the pan and create a nice saucy texture!


Chorizo hash before the tomatoes are added.

STEP 5: While the hash is cooking (and after the grits have thickened) remove the grits from the heat and stir in 2 Tbsp of butter. Once the butter is melted, season the grits with salt and pepper.

STEP 6: In a small skillet sprayed with non-stick spray, fry an egg until the whites are solid but the yolk is still slightly runny (okay, so that's the way I like it but you can really cook it any way you'd like).

STEP 7: In a bowl layer approximately 3/4 cup of grits, 1/2 cup of chorizo hash and top with the fried egg. Enjoy!



As always, I pack my breakfasts into individual containers so I can just wake up and reheat them in the morning. If you'd like to do that with this recipe, just divide the grits and hash into the resealable containers without the egg. When you are ready to eat one, crack a fresh egg on top then microwave for one minute. After one minute, stir the mixture then microwave for one minute more. Stir again and then microwave longer if necessary. The eggs will be scrambled and the breakfast bowl won't be as beautiful as the picture above but it will taste just as great!

NOTE:I noticed that there were also chorizo links sold near the refrigerated Italian sausages. They looked like a better quality meat and would probably be a more familiar meat-like texture (the prices was somewhere between $3-$4 per pound). Next time I make this recipe, I'm going to try using the links cut into small pieces for the hash.

This recipe could easily be made vegetarian (and more heart healthy) by substituting the chorizo for some extra vegetables (try mushrooms, anaheim peppers, serrano peppers or other bell peppers). Because the chorizo I used was so heavily spiced, you will also want to add some seasoning like chili powder, cumin and garlic. Experiment with it, the possibilities are endless!