I love chorizo, especially for tacos, but my wife is a vegetarian, so life is hard. Occasionally I'll make two taco fillings, one with and one without, but inevitably the vegetarian version gets short shrift and my wife ends up disappointed (and who can blame her, because I know how I would feel if everybody but me was eating chorizo).

Anyway, I recently tried to remedy this situation by keeping the chorizo spices and losing the pork. I took a look at several recipes for homemade chorizo on the internet, squared them with what I had in my spice rack, and put together a taco filling that was remarkably chorizo-like in it's flavor. Of course, probably the most important flavor in chorizo, the pork fat, was unavailable, so in that respect, it wasn't quite like eating chorizo. Next time, maybe I'll add cream to it or something, to give it back some of that weight.

Chorizo tacos, hold the chorizo

3 cups diced potatoes
2 large sweet onions, sliced
1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, and sliced
4 cloves roasted garlic, minced/crushed
1 tbsp ground ancho chile
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mexican oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground arbol chile
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp vinegar
safflower oil
salt & pepper
tortillas (we used flour)

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a nonstick skillet and add the potatoes and lightly salt them. Saute on medium/high for several minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through (you will have to do this by trial and error, I'm sorry to say) and lightly browned. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat 2 more tbsp of oil and add the onions. Saute on high heat for a few minutes, stirring often, until the onions are nicely browned. Stir in the poblanos and saute for another minute or so.

3. Reduce heat and stir in all the spices, followed by the garlic and the vinegar, so that everything is coated. Add the potatoes and stir, heating everything through.

Serve with tortillas and whatever accompaniments you like. We had them with just guacamole and queso fresco, alongside a nice bowl of cream of poblano soup. This recipe should make enough taco filling for four, especially if there are other things on the table.