Veggie Sausage Gumbo

This weekend I got a few texts from someone I've known for years, talking about all the vegan goodness they made this weekend for their family. My friend, Melissa, is a Marine, a wife of a Drill Instructor, and a mother of 2. She's someone who has always said that she might be able to go vegetarian, but she'd miss seafood too much. Well, I'm happy to announce that Melissa has started to test the waters of vegetarianism! Yes, this is a vegan blog, but since this recipe is vegan AND I'm overly impressed with her decision to give this lifestyle a whirl, Melissa is guest blogging today to share her first recipe and her first experience. Thanks, Missy!

For someone who is married to a guy from Louisiana I have come to love a good seafood gumbo. But, since I'm gonna be embarking on this whole vegetarian thing I figured I would need to find a new way to make it! I stumbled around the internet for a while and came upon this recipe (I would share the site but I don't remember what it is, and there really wasn't anything else yummy looking on there). It's super easy and doesn't take long (I added time on just to get the celery how I wanted)! Not to mention it's really good! It hasn't been tested by the husband yet, but I'm pretty sure he is going to like it! (He has been a bit skeptical of my whole decision to go veggie, but he is coming along for the ride, he ate tofu scrambled "eggs" this weekend...and actually liked them!) On the recipe it said that it serves 4, but it made a lot more than that (yay, leftovers)! So, for those that are like me and don't know what the heck they are doing yet and want to make something easy, this is a good start!



Veggie Sausage Gumbo

1 cup frozen okra
16 oz veggie "sausage links", cut into 1" pieces
2 tbs whole wheat flour
2 tbs vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1 lg onion chopped
1 lg green pepper chopped
2 cloved garlic chopped (I used a bit more than this, but I love garlic!)
1/2 tsp dried thyme (I just put as much as I thought I needed)
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (I used a lot more, but I wanted it spicy)
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup celery chopped
5 cups vegetable stock
salt (opt)
tabasco (opt)
2 cups cooked rice

1. Fry the okra, set aside. Lightly fry the sausage, set aside.
2. Combine tlour & oil in large pot, stirring constantly. Saute over medium-high heat for 1 min. Add okra, onion, pepper, garlic, thyme, ground pepper. Cook for 1 min on med, stirring.
3. Stir in veggie sausage, tomatoes, celery, vegetable stock. Cook for 15 min or till done. (I set it on low and let it simmer for about 30-45min. The celery took a while to soften up)
4. Serve over rice.



Melissa