Vegan Links on the Gridiron

Week 6 Browns vs. Lions

The Browns were dealt a low blow losing hometown hero QB Brian Hoyer last week to a season ending knee injury.  Back comes Brandon Weeden and he precedes to make "the worst interception of all time."  All joking aside, this is kind of what we come to expect from the Browns, year after year.  So what do we rely on? The tailgate.  And it was one of the years best.  Perfect fall day and people in good spirits.

I decided to make vegan sausages for the 3rd time.  I had a couple practice rounds before trying it out at the tailgate.  People tend to grimace when I tell them my sausages are vegan, but honestly do they even know what kind of meat is in a "normal sausage?"  Probably better they don't know.  While some don't want to know how the sausage is made, I'm ready wax poetic about how to make these delectable vegan apple sage sausages. 

Fall means apples in Ohio and across the midwest.  A trip to an apple orchard with my girlfriend left us with a huge bounty of several varieties of apples.  I made sure to get a number that were good for baking and making sauce.  By cooking down the apples, I made a plain jane apple sauce (just water and apples) to use in recipes, including the one below. 

The technique is similar to the All-Pro Veggie Burgs, where you knead wheat gluten with wet ingredients, wrap in foil and then steam.  Afterwards, the sausages can be refrigerated until they are ready to grill. Next time I might use a bit less wheat gluten to make the sausages more moist.  The flavor was incredible though and people were impressed. We even topped them off with some polish stew for an authentic taste.  Enjoy!



Ingredients (makes 10-12 sausages)

Cooking the apples

3 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp dried sage
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 cup smooth cooked down apples or unsweetened applesauce 
1 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup

Directions 
1. Combine the dry ingredients in one bow and whisk the wet ingredients in another bowl.

Wet and dry

2. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and knead for about 5 minutes.  
3. Pull off a small clump of the dough and roll into a log. It should be the size of a sausage!

Its a sausage!

4. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil (see picture)

The wrapped sausages

5. Steam for 40 minutes in a steamer or a pot/pan with a steamer basket.
6. Remove and refrigerate until ready to grill.
7. Grill on an oiled grill grate for 5-7 minutes.

Grillin and chillin