Vegan Veggie (Breakfast) Sausage

These awesome patties have no TVP, no egg, and no dairy. They taste great (better than MorningStar), hold together, and are currently on my plate ontop of an english muffin and fried egg :) 


Recipe

Equal parts (1/3-1/2 cup each) dry: brown rice, quinoa, barley. Whole oats would also do great here
1/2 cup dry white beans- any kind of beans will work though

In a large pot, pour in the grains, and add enough water to cover with an additional 2" above the grains. To this pot, add seasonings to taste- don't be afraid to overseason slightly because this will eventually be diluted with the rest of the ingredients. I've bolded the really important ones for a meaty flavor. The ones I used were:

• 1/3 cup French onion dry soup mix and 1 tbsp mushroom dry soup mix, 
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp Bragg's liquid aminos. Tamari or low-sodium soy sauce would also work
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp of each: chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of each: ground sage, ground thyme, 
• 1/4- 1/2 tsp of each: coriander, cumin, nutmeg, white pepper
• I added a whole dried cayenne pepper I had on hand- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper would work

Bring this to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep an eye on the water level- You don't want this to burn or be stuck to the pot. If this starts to happen, add 1-2 cups more water and cover, return to heat and cover again. When the grains are fully cooked (the quinoa will be mushy- use the barley and rice to check for done-ness. If you didn't need to add water before, add the 1-2 additional cups now. Simmer on low with the lid off, stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking; You want the water to evaporate, leaving a loose sticky mush. Remove from heat, and remove the bay leaves and whole pepper if you used one.

In a second, smaller sauce pan, start the beans cooking according to the package directions, with 2 bay leaves, a few squirts of Bragg's, and 1 tsp dried oregano. Keep the pot covered, and add more water if necessary to keep the level above the beans. My package said 2 hours, but at the end of an hour and a half they were definitely done. I let my beans cook until they were slightly mushy when I took them out of the water- This way they would incorporate into the patties better. Drain and discard cooking liquid and bay leaves.

6/30/2013 Update: Recently I've been adding the beans directly to the grains(I used black beans more recently), and just checking them for done-ness by pulling out a few and tasting them.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Now here comes the fun part. If the large pot you cooked the grains in is big enough, this can be done straight in there. If not, move the grain mush to a large bowl, and add the following. Stir this mixture well after each addition of the next 2 or three ingredients, carefully monitoring it for texture. The texture should be like that of sticky ground beef. 

• 1/2 to 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/3 cups breadcrumbs- mine were "Italian Seasoned", but I don't think it made a big difference if you want to used plain. Panko may also work, but I don't know.
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/3 cup ground flax meal
• 1 1/2 tbsp light molasses

Form patties with your hands. To prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands, rub some vegetable oil on your hands (be liberal with the oil). This oil will allow the outside of the patties to get crispy, and prevent them from sticking. Place the patties on a baking sheet covered in foil. 

To be honest, I had too many patties for my one measly baking sheet, so I put foil on the oven rack, and once it was covered in patties I poked holes between the patties in the foil to allow air flow. Bake until they feel firm and are just starting to get crispy, about 30 to 45 minutes. Baking time may vary depending on what kind of baking "sheet" you use. Once done, allow to cool. 

I wrapped the patties in saran in bunches of 4, and then put the stacks of 4 into a gallon ziplock and froze all but 4. Out of the freezer, microwave for 30 seconds on a paper towel before reheating in a frying pan for a minute or two on each side. No additional oil is needed in the pan because you already coated them in oil lightly when you formed the patties!

Enjoy!

Other possible additions:

• miso paste
• tomato paste
• barbeque sauce, 
• ground fennel seed (italian sausage flavor)
• smoked salt
• finely processed mushrooms (reconstituted or cooked then processed)
• chili oil
• grated carrots
• finely chopped celery, sauteed to remove excess liquid
• grated (can be charred) red bell pepper, squeezed over a strainer to remove excess liquid. Save the liquid in case your final mixture is too dry.
• caramelized onions
• sauteed garlic
• sauteed finely chopped anise

• Instead of making the original grain mixture yourself, Kashi sells a multi-grain pilaf. You may use that (let me know how it goes in the comments!) instead of making the grain mixture yourself.

Update 4/24/2013

Today I made another batch. I sauteed an onion and a few cloves of garlic in 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan before I added roughly equal parts: great northern white beans, garbanzo beans, farro, brown rice, and pearled barley with enough water to fully submerge. I stirred every 10-15 minutes to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom of the pot, and added another 4 cups of water about 30 minutes in. I added the following for flavor about 20 minutes before everything was done cooking:

• ground white pepper
• ground black pepper
• chili flakes
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper powder
• ground fennel (liberal amount)
• french onion soup mix
• mushroom soup mix
• ground thyme
• ground sage
• liberal amounts of dried oregano
• Bragg's aminos

When almost all of the water was evaporated, I stirred almost continuously to prevent burning. The garbanzo beans were the last When everything was cooked through and mushy, I added the following after removing the pot from the heat:

• about 1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes that had been packed in oil, drained
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 
  
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup ground flax meal
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

This blend was dry enough after these additions that I didn't need the usual oatmeal. Note I didn't use any quinoa (I was just out of both of these ingredients).

As usual, I greased up my hands and arranged flattened patties on a baking sheet (again, fashioned out of perforated tinfoil on an oven rack). These are currently baking and smell awesome. I tasted the blend before baking, and I think the tahini really did good things for richness.