BBQ season can, inevitably, be alienating for vegetarians and vegans.

With everyone on the patio, gathered around the grill, BBQing hotdogs and hamburgers, drinking delicious cocktails, donning party hats, and shaking maracas, the last thing that I want is to be left out in the cold; miserably peering through the closed glass patio door, in my air-conditioned, social-discomfort, leaving fingerprints on the freshly-windexed panes, ostracized party hat dangling by my side, longing to be accepted into the BBQ fiesta.

Well, friends, those dark days are over.

These homemade veggie dogs are your ticket into your friends’ backyard BBQ bonanzas. And the bridge that will unite most meat lovers and plant worshipers, alike.

They are yummy. They are full of recognizable ingredients. They are pretty freakin’ awesome.

And they even have the little traditionally-twisted tapered ends!

Be prepared to shake your very own set of personalized maracas in celebratory bliss, because when you unveil these badboys, you’ll rise to heroic status among friends.

Too much?

Homemade Veggie Dogs

Adapted from Thrifty Living

Ingredients
30g almonds
1/4 cup onion
2 cloves garlic
250g tofu (medium)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp nutmeg
140 g vital wheat gluten flour (~1 cup + 1 Tbsp)
1 tsp cornstarch

Directions
1. Grind your almonds in a food processor until very finely chopped. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the onion and the garlic cloves to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the tofu by crumbling it into the food processor. Measure the soy sauce into a measuring cup and add enough water so the mixture equals 100ml (6-1/2 tablespoons). Add this to the processor.
3. Add remaining ingredients to food processor EXCEPT gluten and cornstarch. Process until completely smooth. Empty into a large mixing bowl.
4. Add wheat gluten flour and cornstarch and mix until evenly combined. You’ll have a soft dough.

5. Divide dough into eight pieces (I doubled the recipe, therefore 16 pieces).

6. Roll each piece into a hotdog shape (make sure you don’t roll them longer than your steamer!). Wrap each hotdog in parchment paper and then in aluminium foil.

7. Lightly twist the ends tightly together.

8. Bring water to boil in a pot that has a steamer insert. Arrange wrapped hotdogs in your steamer insert with the seam side down. There is less chance of the hotdogs bursting the foil if they are packed tightly in the steamer. I arrange four dogs on the bottom, then another four at a 90 degree angle on top.

9. Steam for 45 minutes over gently simmering water – adding water as needed to avoid it simmering dry and burning. If you’ve arranged your dogs in two layers, switch their positions halfway through the cooking time (bottom ones on top and top ones on bottom). Turn heat off and let cool.
10. To cook the hotdogs: BBQ, grill, saute in a skillet with 1 tsp oil, or simmer unwrapped dogs in water for 5 minutes.