Apple Sage "Sausage" Style Crumbles

As a long time vegetarian, I love me some Boca or Morningstar brand Crumbles. They mimic ground beef (with none of the fat or cholesterol, thank you!), and work well in thousands of recipes. When my husband, Bryan, and I decided to go vegan after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives (available on Netflix instant-- I highly recommend watching it!), I purchased 5 books from Amazon.com on veganism. I am not one to jump into something as complex as plant-based nutrition/veganism without doing my research! I wanted to know the why and how behind the science... and I didn't want to cause any kind of nutrient deficiency because of my own ignorance. So, I got educated!! Out of the 5 books I ordered, these 3 have been the most compelling and helpful. 

Excellent and comprehensive resource for beginner Vegans- from a renowned Dietician. 

Also an excellent resource... and it doesn't read like a textbook! This book has a step by step plan for newbie Vegans. 

TONS of amazing recipes in here!! Even Mac N Cheese :) The recipe for the Apple Sage Crumbles comes from this book, and I will share my adaptation of said recipe below..


OK, enough of Courtney's Vegan Classroom. On to the food!!


Apple Sage "Sausage" Style Crumbles
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 3-4 hours
Serves: 10-12

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked brown rice, chilled
2 cups walnut pieces, chopped very small
2 cups Vital Wheat Gluten (I like Bob's RedMill brand..)
2 cups Natural Apple Sauce
1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast (Bragg's brand is great!)
1/4 cup flaxseed meal + 1/4 cup water
1/8 cup Vegan Chicken Bouillion
2 Tablespoons Sage
1 Tablespoon Fennel Seed
2 teaspoons each: Thyme and Oregano
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Directions:
First, you'll want to cook up your rice and chop your walnuts- probably the night before. 1 1/2 cups of dried rice will equal about 3 cups of cooked rice. Chill the rice overnight.

Combine rice and chopped walnuts in a food processor or blender. Process until it's all combined- you're going for a crumble-type texture here-- be careful not to process into a paste!

Combine this mixture with all other ingredients. From here, you can:

-Spread out in a large, shallow, oiled pan (at least a 9" x 13" size- mixture will look a bit like bread dough) and bake at 350 F for about 2 hours. Stir about every 30 minutes to prevent the mix from sticking, and to start the "crumbling" process.

-Use the same method as above, but use a slow cooker, set to high (may take 3-4 hours to cook thoroughly). Hint- in either method, you'll know it's done when it no longer resembles bread dough!

-Form "dough" into links or patties. On a plate, microwave on high for about 30 seconds per 3 pieces, then brown in a skillet until crispy (we learned this the hard way-- do NOT put directly into a skillet!! It'll stick :-/).

Here's our sausage link experiment.. that didn't go so well, LOL!!

About 1/2 cup sausage "dough"

Rolled into links!

Link thought I was calling for him when I exclaimed, "They look like Breakfast links!!" LOL. Sorry, Link.

Our attempt at frying in Grapeseed oil (actually, water here- in an attempt to un-stickify). Make sure you microwave yours first to cook the dough a bit, or yours will stick like ours did!

And here's our before and after slow cooker project pictures:

All ready to be crumbled!

All crumbled up!!

I am thrilled that this recipe turned out!! I wasn't so sure when I started, but I am really glad I gave it a try. The sausage does taste "sausage-y", and we'll be able to use it in soups, stews, and stir fries! Best of all, it's vegan, it's natural (read: I know what went into it!!), and I can freeze it for future use! OFF TO THE FREEZER WITH YOU! Except for the bit destined for my belly... right... now. :)

Happy Eating!

<3

Courtney