I have said before that I am a carnivore at heart, I am a true lover of meat and meat products. However, I also have a curiosity when it comes to all of the plant based meat substitutes, and love trying the new products as they begin appearing more frequently on my grocer’s shelves. The products are hit and miss, some are really good, some are just okay, while some are absolutely horrendous in my opinion. The Worthington X Burger reminded me of how awful the soy burgers were that my school district served us for lunch back in the sixties and seventies. Well, maybe not that bad, but pretty damn close…

The Stallion, Zero Evil’s Italian Sausage was a good choice for today’s review, and pairing it with Gnar Gnar Kraut made for a superb lunch too.

From Zero Evil’s website:

The Stallion delivers the knockout punch. No matter how you slice it, our signature blend of spices and whole ingredients comes out swinging. 

There is truth to their advertising. I thought the sausage was excellent, even though it was a tad dry. However, the flavor was good enough for me to get past the dryness which might have come partly from my own cooking of the product coupled with the fact there is only 1 gram of fat per link. I removed the casing per the instructions on the box and pan seared two links in a cast iron skillet on medium low heat with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. The sausages cooked fairly quickly as I also heated up the Gnar Gnar Kraut. Both were done in only a few minutes.  A cooking point to remember is these are entirely plant based, yet the fact they are so similar to actual meat sausages, you might find your self looking for the same cues of being done as you would meat. You need not over cook plant based meat substitutes.

In my opinion, I thought the Italian sausage tasted very similar to an actual meat based sausage with the biggest difference being in they are not fatty and the texture is not meaty, I already mentioned the dryness. But over all, the blend of seasonings was spot on perfect and I will definitely be buying more of these sausages in the future.

You might find Zero Evil Italian Sausages a tad expensive at $7.99 for a 12 ounce package of four links. Compared to cheap sausages, this is pricey. However, with the expense of a healthier diet, the cost of good nutritious foods can be offset by you not having to visit your doctor quite so often for ailments that can be traced entirely to unhealthy dietary habits.

These plant based sausages are indeed nutritionally sound.

Ingredients:

Vital Wheat Gluten, Filtered Water, Organic Red Kidney Beans, Organic Shoyu, Chickpea Flour, Nutritional Yeast, Sea Salt, Organic Smoked Paprika, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Chili Flakes, Organic Fennel Seed, Organic Thyme, Organic Rosemary, Organic Cayenne, Organic Black Pepper

My only concern in regards to the ingredients would be the Vital Wheat Gluten for those who are gluten intolerant.  Otherwise, all else is perfectly fine.

This is Cleveland’s answer to kimchi. This spicy & gnarly kraut will add a bold and delicious kick to any dish. Beware, you might get hooked!

Hands down, this has to be the best damn Kraut I have ever consumed. The blend of red bell pepper, jalapeno’s, onion, and siracha peppers is a perfect addition to sauerkraut. While each flavor profile was distinctive in the kraut, not a one over powered any of the others. I have to tip my hat to the folks at Cleveland Kraut for developing such an excellent recipe.

A point to consider though is this product is a little on the spicy side with heat. For me, I thought is was pretty mild, but I also go through a bottle of habanero hot sauce every two weeks. If you do not like heat, you might want to avoid this product, if you like heat and kraut, fill your plate, you will enjoy this! At $5.99 for a 16 ounce package, you cannot go wrong.

This probiotic food choice is low enough in calories, you could eat and entire bag every day with no worries about expanding your waist.

Ingredients:

Green Cabbage, Green Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Kosher Salt, Leeks, Sriracha (Chili Peppers, Sugar, Vinegar, Salt, Garlic, Chili Extract, Beet Powder), Garlic, Red Chili