A Little Taste of Vegan Bavaria

I live in a mixed household. While I am vegan, my boyfriend is a dairy-free omnivore. Our good friend who we often cook with is a lacto-ovo pescatarian. As you can imagine, keeping everyone satisfied in the kitchen can get pretty unruly.

This is why I thank my lucky stars for Meatless Monday! At least once a week, our kitchen is reserved strictly for vegan fare. Why, I never thought I'd be so excited to use the same spoon for different serving dishes! However, this does mean the pressure's on to make original dishes that will impress.

Luckily, I struck gold with this dish. A little taste of German heaven just begging for a pretzel and a stein of good beer.

Vegan Sausages & German Potato Salad

The recipe for the sausages was modified from the blog Vegan Dad, which he modified from Isa. I had to put my own stamp on this treat. Since I stumbled upon this gem I have already made it several times, each time with more success. It looks overwhelming because of the ingredient list, but trust me--easiest thing of all time. Use whatever you have on hand.

Ingredients

1/2 cup blackeyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup eggplant, diced
1 cup cold vegetable broth
1 tbsp. nondairy butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup vegan parmesan
1 1/4 cup gluten
1 tbsp. crushed fennel seed
Any other spices you want! I used salt, black pepper, parika, red pepper flakes and River Road voodoo seasoning.

To Make

Bring water to a boil and place a steamer basket inside. Mash your beans with a fork. Add all of your other ingredients and combine well with a fork. Divide your dough into six equal parts. Roll each individual ball into a sausage-shaped log and wrap with a small square of tin foil. Place your little sausage logs into the steamer basket and cover your pot. Steam for 15 minutes and rotate your sausages. Steam for another 15 minutes and rotate. Steam 10 more minutes and you're good to go!

For this dish, I simply heated up some oil in a pan and tossed the sausages in. Add sauerkraut and heat thoroughly. Serve with a side of German potato salad. I used this recipe, substituting vegan bacon and bacon bits. I also splashed in a tablespoon of oil to mimic the bacon grease. What can I say? I'm being a little indulgent.

Prost!