Meat and Potatoes goes vegan in this feast of a post. This is a meal in a salad bowl. For even the manliest of men. And warning, I get a little silly as I explain this below.
And guess what, I'm now going to add nutritional info to all my new posts since so many of you ask for it! Hooray!..
Feast. Inside this shiny white bowl is a feast I tell you. A feast!..
Vegan Sausage and Sweet Potatoes. For this feast you will find a twirl of crisp romaine leaves ruffled by thinly sliced green apple and speckled candied walnuts and sweet raisins. And to greet those grassy sweet flavors is a savory mound of wilted spinach, cheezy and peppery in flavor - a bit of cider vinegar bite to each tender green leaf. And then comes this spice. A perfect spiral of long and lean sliced vegan sausage. The super spicy kind - doused in even more spice just for the heck of it. And lastly, some tender cajun spiced diced sweet potato - a brilliant shade of deep orange.
And to make it even "manlier" I'll throw in a quip about how many more vitamins, minerals, fiber and body-healing good stuff fills this bowl compared to a real "meat and white potatoes" plate.
Yup, this is a manly, burly, robust, beer-can-crushing-on-your-forehead-if-you-are-into-that-sort-of-thing manly man feast. Manly like those Hungry Man frozen dinners. Manly like men's shower gel. Like thick lumberjack flannels. And sawdust. And tools. And football. And ESPN SportsCenter. And WWE. And..
Wait. Sorry. Those are all stereotypes I know. But that's the point! Sterotypes suck. And the stereotype that "meat and potatoes" people can't eat vegan - sucks too.
Oh I forgot one manly thing. The manliest thing of all? The fact that this is a cruelty free feast. Saving the earth, animals and your health one bite at a time...
Now THAT's manly.
Dive in burly men and women.
Silly enough for you? Did I get my point across? Did you already know all of this? Then send this to your meat-eater friends. I will happily take their comments and rebuttals 🙂
OK, so I know that this recipe really looks NOTHING like a real "meat and potatoes" plate, but still. It's all there people. Nothing lost.
The meat? Long, thin slices of spicy vegan sausage. The potatoes? Tender, Cajun spiced, diced sweet potato. See! All there.
This bowl is so flavorful you don't even need to add dressing. But creamy vegan garlic ranch would be pretty awesome if you want to add. And add a pilaf of quinoa or brown rice to really round out this cozy bowl - and make it perfect as a meal for two. Or add a big manly hunk of cornbread. Or a frosty cold beer. Corona is vegan! Oh.. never mind.
Just dive in and try this baby out..
"Meat and Potatoes" Feast Gone Vegan. Salad Style.
vegan, serves 1-2 as a entree feast
Salad components:
8-10 leaves of romaine
*organic
½-1 link vegan spicy sausage (I used ½ link of Tofurky Italian Meatless Sausage for nutritional analysis)
⅓ cup green apple, thinly sliced + splash of lemon to toss them in
3 tablespoon candied walnuts and raisins (recipe below)
1 ½ cups cheezy spinach (recipe below)
¾ cup baked sweet potato, diced
cajun or southwest seasoning to taste
seasoned salt to taste
candied bits:
2 tablespoon walnuts
2 teaspoon raisins
*organic
1 teaspoon agave syrup
oil left in pan
cheezy spinach:
5 cups frozen chopped spinach OR 1 bunch wilted fresh spinach (chopped)
*organic
1 teaspoon vegan buttery spread
2-4 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
splash of water
pepper to taste
Nutritional Analysis:
Calories: 523kcal Fat: 15g Carbs: 69g Protein: 36g Calcium: 29% VitaA: 978% VitaC: 162% Potassium: Iron: 66%
This meal is rich in fiber, iron, potassium, niacin, manganese, riboflavin, protein, thiamin, vitamins A, B6 and C. Cholesterol free and low in saturated fat.
*note: this nutritional analysis was done using CalorieCount.com - these numbers are just an estimate
Nutrition PS.. click here to find out why I love Romaine lettuce. My Ode to Romaine.
Directions:
1. First prep your wilted spinach salad by chopping fresh spinach into tiny bits. Add the 1 teaspoon vegan butter to a pan. Then add the spinach once the butter melts. Toss it with the vegan butter a bit. Cover with lid and turn heat to medium. Add in apple cider vinegar and a small amount of water to get it steaming. You can also wilt the spinach in a steamer. Toss this spinach with nutritional yeast, pepper and any other spices you'd like to add. Set aside.
2. Next your will want to prep your potato. I used a sweet potato that I had baked the night before and chilled in the fridge. I diced the potato and did a quick saute on the stove with the chipotle spices. Easy. You could also dice and boil your potatoes if you'd prefer. You can do a dry/water saute with the spices or add a splash of oil. Set potatoes aside.
3. Next add all the candied walnut ingredients and saute on high for just over a minutes. Remove and allow to cool to let the sugars harden.
$. Lastly, you can do a quick saute of your thinly sliced vegan sausage slices. You can use half a sausage if the salad just serves you or the whole sausage if serving for 2 people. The spinach is pretty hearty so you actually many be able to split this salad into smaller portions for two people - depending how hungry you are.
5. Slice your green apples and toss in a splash of lemon juice.
6. Assemble! Add the romaine leaves. Then the spinach over top. Then add the pretty green apples. And candied bits. Then top with the sweet potato cubes and the sizzling hot vegan sausage. I like some fine black pepper over top.
Enjoy!
