Ribs & Slaw Sandwich

This meal was delicious! French rolls with cole slaw and BBQ “ribs” (made with homemade BBQ sauce!) paired perfectly with roasted brussels sprouts.

I started by making vegan “ribs”. The recipe comes from here. The ribs are made from vital wheat gluten, which bakes up into dense and chewy seitan. They didn’t look too pretty to begin with, but after I paired them with BBQ sauce they were amazing.

They have a very meaty texture, and the vegan “beef” bullion I used gave them a nice flavor even before the BBQ sauce.

Mmm! My recipe for the BBQ sauce is below.

BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cup ketchup
• 0.25 cup vinegar
• 0.25 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
• 0.5 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp liquid smoke

1. Combine all ingredients in a covered sauce pan. 
2. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until thick and bubbling. 

Next up was the slaw. I only recently discovered that I LOVE cole slaw. 

Slaw

Ingredients:

• 8 cups shredded cabbage
• 2/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 0.5 tsp salt

1. Combine all ingredients except for the cabbage, mixing well. 
2. Toss in the cabbage, coating evenly. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. 

As you can see, I used a mixture of green and red cabbage. Sometimes I’ll mix in some shredded carrot, too. As a side for my ribs & slaw sandwich, I picked up some fresh brussels sprouts at the farmer’s market. 

Isn’t it neat how they grow on a stalk? I didn’t realize this until recently. I washed them, sliced them in half, and tossed them with oil, salt, and pepper. A few minutes in a 425 degree oven and they were roasted perfectly! This is my favorite way to eat brussels sprouts. 

Everything came together wonderfully, and I’m looking forward to a leftover sandwich tomorrow. The ribs aren’t difficult, and I think they are an easy way to try seitan (much better than boiling, which is easy to mess up — this recipe seems foolproof).