I always hated sausage. The idea of animal odds-n-ends being squished together in some sort of casing made my stomach turn. Little mystery chunks made one by unknown forces? No thanks. Even as a kid I pulled the sausage off my pizza; at the sandwich shops (the kind you get Italian beef and sausage from) I opted for the gravy bread with hot oil.
Today, handed a vegan sausage, I know those chunks aren’t assorted animal bits. They’re wheat and other grains and sun-dried tomato, but does it still creep me out? You betcha. But I’m trying. I’m trying to get over the stigmas of foods I hated in their non-vegan form. And I’m gonna do it here. In the spirit of VeganMoFo, I’m going to try one veganized food a week that I used to hate.
This one went well. It’s Tofurky sausages, cut up into little pieces and fried up on a griddle. And each piece took two bites, which I would then alternate with cornbread (from Veganomicon) and spaghetti squash (with a little bit of Earth Balance, garlic, red pepper, and kale). I don’t remember what sausage tastes like, so I can’t tell you if these are close, but they’re good. The consistency is very meaty, but I never worried about hitting anything hard or chewy. I could do it again.
So what’s next week? Potato salad? Pot pie? Oh, so many things I used to hate.
that’s funny because when i eat vegan sausage i get a little freaked everytime there is a weird bit that is kinda hard… for a second i go- eww cartilage!- and then i remember that it can’t be and i’m relieved!
that weird “mystery” texture has always freaked me out. It kept me away from sausage for many many years when I was eating meat. Even knowing that I would now be eating a vegan product I would still be cautious out of habit. That “eww, gross” reflex is hard-wired into my brain.
YUM! You can’t beat a good sausage.
I love those sausages. I used to get the kielbasa kind but can’t find it anywhere anymore. Your food looks delicious!
I love vegan sausages! The ones in Vegan Brunch and on Everyday Dish are wonderful and you can play with them to suit your tastes, plus they’re soooo cheap and easy there isn’t much not to love.
And I say YES! to V’Con pot pie for your next experiment, that stuff is heavenly!
I just checked out the pot pie recipe, and I don’t know, man. It’s not going to be this week’s experiment, that’s for sure. The vegetables sound cooked to death and I don’t know if I could handle that much seitan, even if I cut it into smaller pieces.
The month is young, though. Next up, I think, will be the omelet.
I hear you- I used to hate the same things too! Potato salad (anything with mayo, actually), pot pies, anything that falls in the “cylindrical meat” category (insert foul joke here). Even vegan, I still don’t want to try these things, although I am a huge fan of Field Roasts sausages. But Veganaise? Yuck, still not having it. Good for you for expanding your horizons!
Yeah, aside from coleslaw (which I drain with my fork) I’ve never had mayo. No squishy, creamy stuff–no risotto, no mustard or ketchup, no custard. From what I’ve read, it’s my mother’s fault for not breast-feeding me, causing me to resent my infancy and the most important thing of that time, baby food. (So anything with the consistency of baby food is right out.) Who knows, though, maybe I’m just a picky bitch.