Many Freaks know that I love food and try to create lots of good food for my family. I am willing to try lots of things. We, as a family, rarely eat starchy processed grains, and I am a huge proponent of meats and fats and our meals are normally Paleo based. Having said that, we have these tube-like versions of sausage made from Soy and other things at my store. A vegan friend of mine swore that they tasted exactly like sausage (which was unusual for a vegan of 8 years to tell me this. How did he rememeber what sausage tasted like?). For years, I have been saying "I'm boycotting Soy", but last night I succumbed to his words. (for those interested here is a link to exactly what these things are http://www.lightlife.com/Vegan-Food-Vegetarian-Diet/Gimme-Lean-Sausage.
So in my daze of trying to figure out exactly what to do with this, I thought to myself, "Self....what do you normally do with sausage? How about sausage and biscuits and gravy?" Cool. So I whipped up some homemade biscuits and "sausage" gravy with these things. And I will have to say that it was really pretty good. How do I know? My 10 year old stumbled to the kitchen after waking up and asked, "what's for breakfast?" (I like to make breakfast everyday for them, so he likes to know). I told him, "Biscuits and Gravy" and he responded, "Dad, I don't really like gravy stuff." Well, we have a rule that you must try everything I cook (dictatorish, I know) and told him exactly that. I'll post my recipe below, but he actually ate the whole thing, then responded afterwards, "that was actually really good."
Does this mean I will begin to use this replacement all the time? Heck no. I really love my food co-op's own pork sausage. But, maybe I should take off my own blinders when it comes to vegan foods. Do you ever want to try something different and "healthier"? Try this out and let me know what your family thinks. I wouldn't steer you wrong. And actually, my kids know I'm a health freak and they rarely question the foods I put in front of them. But this morning, I told them. Neither one of them said anything, which left me thinking, "Yep, these are my kids?"
So here's the recipe. If you don't eat meat (or even if you do) try it out. I think it came pretty close to a palatable meal. (I didn't include it here, but if you want my recipe for homemade biscuits, drop me a line).
16 oz. Gimme Lean Veggie Style Sausage
2 Tbsp Nitrate-free, hormone free, natural bacon grease.
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 can coconut milk (shake it up before you open it)1
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried, rubbed sage
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
- Heat up a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the "veggie stuff" in the bacon greas. Break up the sausage into fairly small pieces so it will cook easily, but I like to leave some bigger chunks in there too. Once the sausage is thoroughly cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave the drippings in there, and leave all the stuck-on brown bits of sausage in the bottom of the pan.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add the arrowroot and stir it into the fat & brown bits, whisking constantly for about a minute so it doesn’t burn. It will get pretty thick and almost dry.
- Add the coconut milk about 1/3 of the can at a time, and whisk together with the “roux” you just made, incorporating it thoroughly. Some of the browned bits should start to come off the bottom of the pan, too. This is what we want. Keep adding in the coconut milk until it is all incorporated. Add the fennel, sage, cayenne, salt and pepper and mix it in.
- Add the sausage back in and incorporate throughout the gravy. Cook for a moment so everything is heated evenly. Serve immediately over biscuits.