Sausage! [vegan]

Despite recent efforts to live my life less online and more in reality, my best culinary and creative inspirations often come as a result of browsing the net. This recipe was the catalyst of my most recent adventure. It really hadn’t occurred to me that you could do a vegan spin on breakfast sausage without labor-intensive, expensive, or otherwise complicated ingredients like TVP or seitan.

    The biggest adjustment I made to the recipe was adding beans, as the original was entirely oat-based. That was fine, and certainly got crispy, but it left me with a starchy sensation in my mouth and made me feel something like a confused Scotsman who got a bit overconfident in the kitchen after a Chopped marathon. Beans seemed to be in order. The results were, according to my non-vegetarian taste-tester, remarkably like actual sausage, and were a great addition to our weekend brunch, which sounds fancy but is really just an excuse for me to make carby things and start drinking early.

   So, without further ado, I give you

Vegan Sausage

½ medium sized onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium-to-large carrot, diced

2/3 package of baby bella/crimini mushrooms, about a cup, diced

1 can of beans, such as lentils or pinto

½ cup of uncooked oats

1 ½ tsp rubbed sage

½ tsp red pepper flake

¼ tsp clove            

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil

Heat oil and sauté the vegetables for about five minutes or until liquid from mushrooms has somewhat dissipated. Meanwhile, mash your beans in a separate bowl. When vegetables are cooked, stir in seasonings, followed by oats and beans, and allow mixture to cool. I put mine in the fridge.

   Make into patties and pan fry until browned on each side.