Vegan Low Country Boil with Handmade Sausages

Week 2 Ravens vs. Browns (road game)


If you would have asked me a couple years ago what a "low country boil" is I would have looked at you dumbfounded. But when my brother went to Alabama to work for 7 months, he came back talking about this common backyard BBQ tradition. I thought, why can't you veganize it?  So we did.

Low Country Boil

The concept behind a low country boil is simple.  Take a bunch of seafood, sausages and veggies, add a ton of spices, liquid to cover and bring to a boil on an outdoor heat source.  While there are a few common ingredients, such as potatoes and corn, everything else it pretty much left up to you.  The spice mix varies, but I'd recommend going heavy on the flavor.  Why not?  The more complex the flavor profile the better.  The key to our boil was the bay leaves.  Other folks swear by Old Bay.

The number one takeaway is that its pretty hard to mess this up.  No matter what, a low country boil comes out tasting good and serving a crowd.  You are supposed to dump it on a picnic table covered in newspaper, but we just didn't have the capacity to do that.  Next time!

I could've taken the easy road and purchased my favorite Field Roast Sausages along with all the other ingredients.  Instead, I prepared handmade sausages for just the second time and they came out great.  Thanks to a bulk vital wheat gluten purchase, I had abundant supplies to create sausages from scratch.  The technique is interesting and one I picked up on from one of my favorite vegan chefs Alicia Simpson.

You start out making the sausages like nearly every other seitan recipe, dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other, knead together.  But here you roll the sausages out, wrap them in foil and steam them for 30-40 minutes before cooking.  The result is a plump, juicy vegan sausage loaded with your favorite spices and without any added oil.

Enjoy!



Sausages
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 2 tbs nutritional yeast
• 1 tbs smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano 
• 4 garlic cloves, mined
• 5 button mushrooms, minced
• 1/4 red pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbs bragg's or tamari
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tbs vegan Worcestershire
• 1 tsp liquid smoke 

Directions

1. Combine wheat gluten and spices in one bowl.
2. Whisk together Garlic, mushrooms, red pepper and liquids in another bowl.
3. Combine the wet and dry and knead for a few minutes.
4. Roll out 4 sausages and wrap tightly in aluminum foil, twisting the ends to seal (make sure they are tight!)
5. Steam for 30-40 minutes
6. Cook anyway you like! Grill, saute, bake... the possibilities are endless.  Or just refrigerate until ready to use.  

The final product after 30 minutes steaming

Low Country Boil
Ingredients

• Package of vegan prawns, chopped into chunks (I used Sophie's Kitchen brand)
• 4 vegan sausages, chopped into chunks (see recipe above or use Field Roast)
• 4 medium sized red potatoes, chopped 
• 4 ears sweet corn, quartered
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbs smoked paprika
• 1 tbs thyme
• 1 tbs sage
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs onion power
• 1 tbs red pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• Foil lasagna pan
• Water to fill

Directions

1. Place the veggies in the foil pan.  Throw in the spice mix and cover with water.  Make sure to mix it around!
2. Cover tightly with foil (or the lid if using a pot) and place it on a hot grill.  Let simmer for 45 minutes-1 hour.
3. Remove cover and add prawns and sausages (the water should be boiling).  Cover and let cook for another half hour.
4. Take the pan off of the grill and serve hot! Preferably you have a newspaper lined picnic table, but plates will do.

Boil!

Ready to serve!