As someone who suffers from gout, I have two choices a diet of reduced meat consumption or have painful attacks. I do not like pain so reduced meat consumption it is. My daily limit is four to six ounces of lean meat per day. That’s not per meal that’s per day. To stay within this now more than half of my meals are without any meat.
Since I spend a lot of time traveling for work and most of the places I travel to are not in major metropolitan areas this is difficult. But I do make the best choices that I can but I do eat way too much pizza….. Is there such a thing as to much pizza?
So when I cook I want to cook meals that are delicious and comply with the diet. For the most part, cooking meat-free meals is new to me. So I am learning new ways to cook. Let’s just say lots of time spent on vegetarian/vegan cooking blogs and Facebook groups. Yes, I even have some vegan cookbooks.
Growing up in the South I have a huge love for comfort food covered in gravy. Some of the healthy recipes that I find may be good for me but look dry and just plain boring. But one day I was on Pinterest and found a link to a Lentil Salisbury Steak recipe and I said I need to try this. Here is a link to the original recipe: https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/vegan-lentil-salisbury-steak/
Of course, I did make some modifications to the seasoning to satisfy my taste buds but the basic recipes came from Rabbit and Wolves.
A few items to note:
How much water to add will depend upon how wet your lentils are. Mine was a little over cooked so I needed less water.
One item I have used in turkey burgers to give them more of a beefy taste is Worcestershire sauce. But since it is made with anchovies it is off the gout menu. The answer to give this a more beefy taste without beef or anchovies is vegan Worcestershire sauce. The taste is surprisingly close to the real thing without the anchovies.
Vital wheat gluten is the binder that holds everything together. It’s also a good source of protein; it’s about 75% protein. So combined with lentils these could be called protein patties.
The recipe makes eight patties. I fried them all but only used four today. The other four were set aside for another recipe.
To the mixer with the beater attached add 1 cup vital wheat gluten, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup cooked lentils (2 cups in total) and 1/2 cup water. Turn the mixer on low to start bringing the mixture together. Add in 1/2 cup bread crumbs (1 cup in total). Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the crap out of the mixture for a few minutes to activate the gluten.
When the gluten is forming strings turn the mixer to low and add in the rest of the lentils and bread crumbs. Bring everything together and if needed add more water.
After everything has come together stop the mixer and form the mixture into eight patties. Fry them on medium heat until each side is crispy and set aside.
Now it’s time to make the gravy. In the same pan on medium heat with 1/4 cup of oil add 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions just start to get come color. Reduce temperature to medium-low and a little at a time add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Add some flour mix and then add some more.
If the onions and mushrooms soaked up some of the oil you will need to add some more before adding the flour. You need an equal ratio of oil to flour.
Keep stirring the roux until it gets some color. Slowly add in your veggie stock a little at a time, I used three cups. Add some stir it in, let it come to a simmer, and add more until it’s a little thinner than you want. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
Add the patties and simmer for a total of fifteen minutes flipping the patties every few minutes. They are now ready to serve with mashed potatoes.
This is my video on YouTube:
Ingredients
- 1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt in total
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Cups Lentils Cooked
- 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
- 1 Cup Water
- 3 Cups vegetable stock
- 1/4 Cup All Purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup onion
- 1/2 Cup mushrooms
Instructions
- To the mixer with the beater attached add 1 cup vital wheat gluten, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup cooked lentils (2 cups in total) and 1/2 cup water. Turn the mixer on low to start bringing the mixture together. Add in 1/2 cup bread crumbs (1 cup in total). Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the crap out of the mixture for a few minutes to activate the gluten.
- When the gluten is forming strings turn the mixer to low and add in the rest of the lentils and bread crumbs. Bring everything together and if needed added more water.
- After everything has come together stop the mixer and form the mixture into eight patties. Fry them on medium heat until each side is crispy and set aside.
- Now it’s time to make the gravy. In the same pan on medium heat with 1/4 cup of oil add 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions just start to get come color. Reduce temperature to medium low and a little at a time add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Add some flour mix and then add some more.
- Keep stirring the roux until it gets some color. Slowly add in your veggie stock a little at a time, I used three cups. Add some stir it in, let it come to a simmer and add more until its a little thinner than you want. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Add the patties and simmer for a total of fifteen minutes flipping the patties every few minutes.
