Day 357 Italian Unsausages

Italian Unsausages

1/2 Cup Bulgar Wheat
1 1/2 Cups Boiling Water
1/2 Cup Sundried Tomatoes, minced (not packed in oil)
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Cups Onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Garlic, minced
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Tomato Paste
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Miso
2 Tablespoons Smooth Peanut Butter
1 1/2 Teaspoons Fennel Seeds
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Basil
1 Tablespoon Spice Mix (Day 356)
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Rosemary
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper, ground
1 1/2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten

1.  Put the bulgar wheat and sundried tomatoes in a bowl and pour the water over.  Let soak for 15 minutes.

2.  Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic.  Saute until fairly tender.  Turn off the heat and add the water, tomato paste, soy sauce, miso, and peanut butter.  Mix well.  Use an immersion blender to roughly puree the mixture.  Put in a large bowl.

3.  Add the bulgar wheat and tomato mix to the puree.  Add the spices and and mix.  Add the vital wheat gluten and mix well. Roll the mixture into 12 sausages about 4 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.  Wrap each log in aluminum foil.

Ready to steam

4.  Place the logs in a steamer and steam for about 1 hour.  They will be very soft at first, but will firm up as they cool.  Store in the refrigerator for one week.

Goes well in Jambalaya

Soundtrack Winter Solstice - Musique pour Etudier: Musique Instramentale

Addicted to Results 5/1

Apple Pecan Pancakes

Pancakes for breakfast!  This version used coconut oil, silken tofu, rice milk and apples. The texture was a little to spongy for me.  I have had better luck with pancakes by using a non vegan recipe then converting it. The recipes meant to be vegan always seem to have texture problems.  These were served with broken pecans and maple syrup.

 For lunch I had a vegan sausage with tomatilla avocado salsa and ketchup.  Cabbage slaw was on the side.  Snacks during the day included a apple banana muffin and a seeded granola bar from Atwaters.  Yes, Atwaters is open in Canton now!

Lemon Garlic Asparagus

We had dinner at the Canton Waterfront Park.  It was the first of the First Thursdays concerts in the park.  Joan Osburn was the headliner.  Even though it rained during the middle act, it was a fun night.  I started out with a winter seasonal Woodchuck Cider.  As the night progressed, the lines to the beer tents were ridiculous, so I made a run to Chesapeake Wine Company for a rose.  For dinner we had Sundried Tomato Risotto and Lemon Garlic Asparagus in the park.  The risotto was made with short grain brown rice, onions, sundried tomatoes, basil and parsley.  The asparagus was roasted in the oven with the garlic, lemon, salt and pepper.

Sundried Tomato Risotto

Addicted to Results 4/23

I did a breakfast sandwich this morning.  I pulled the Acorn Squash Baguette out of the freezer and heated it up.  I used the end piece as a roll for mock breakfast sausages with butter lettuce and ranch dressing.  The sausages are from Field Roast which is still my fav of the fake meats.

At lunch I made a veggie burger.  This one used flaxseed, baking powder, rice starch and oil to replace an egg.  I added bread crumbs, roasted problano and jalapeno peppers, shredded carrot, parsley and veggie crumbles (faux ground beef). I topped it with a green chili sauce.

Veggie Burger

There was a salad on the side made with butter lettuce, tomato, avocado and topped with lemon vinaigrette.






Dinner featured a stuffed bell pepper.  The stuffing was made with brown rice, onion, veggie crumbles, garlic and tomatoes.  On the side were garlic haricot verts.  The beans were steamed in a mix of sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar and lots and lots of garlic.

Normally, this would have been an alcohol free night, but we scored a bottle of our favorite and hard to find champagne.  Charles Heidsieck rose.