Keilbasa (or kolbasa or kovbasa, klobasa, kolbasi, or even kubasa) has a tender place in my vegan heart. I have Ukrainian heritage and keilbasa was one of the well loved foods by my extended family. For our fancy Christmas dinner each person would bring one traditional dish: pierogies, borscht, sauerkraut, fish, and of course kielbasa. We rotated who made each dish every year and the person bringing kielbasa had the easiest job, they would just pick up a huge roll of it from the butcher and cut it up at the hostess' house. It was to be eaten with dinner but I always snuck away with some pieces while it was being prepared.
Anyway, needless to say it's one of those sentimental foods to me. I never had trouble giving it up when I went vegetarian but I was thrilled to see that a vegan version existed.
This type is made by Tofurky, and oddly enough it's the first time I tried anything from this somewhat infamous vegetarian brand. It's pretty darn good. I mean, it's not really like the style of keilbasa I used to eat, which was larger, less spicy and not in the shape sausage. It's still delicious. I made it on the barbie.I followed the recommendation on the label and made it with some mushrooms, red peppers and onions and laid it atop a toasted kaiser bun . It was a delectable little combination. And easy to make. Hurray for us all!
One last picture for the road!
