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Vegan Turkish Kebabs With Sumac Onions and Garlic-Dill Mayonnaise
![Vegan Turkish Kebabs With Sumac Onions and Garlic-Dill Mayonnaise](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2020/03/04/dining/03fakemeatrex-kebabs/merlin_168789975_754a6c46-9d30-4f2b-b0e6-46378ae8ab97-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1medium red onion, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
- 1cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
- 1tablespoon ground sumac
- 20garlic cloves, peeled and ends trimmed
- 1cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Large handful of minced fresh dill leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1pound vegan ground meat, such as Impossible or Beyond
- 1tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves
- 3medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1½teaspoons Urfa pepper, or 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile
- 1½teaspoons ground sumac
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon ground coriander
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1teaspoon neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
- 1cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1cup arugula
- Hot sauce, to taste
- Vegan Turkish bread or pita
For the Sumac Onions
For the Garlic-dill Mayonnaise
For the Kebabs
For Serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the sumac onions: Combine all ingredients and toss until the onion pieces are separated and well coated. (You should have about 1½ cups. Sumac onions should be used the day they are made.)
- Step 2
Make the garlic-dill mayonnaise: Put 18 garlic cloves in a medium pot, and cover with a couple inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking for 30 seconds. Drain garlic and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, mince the remaining 2 garlic cloves. In a food processor, combine blanched and raw garlic, mayonnaise and lemon juice; process until completely smooth. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Transfer mixture to a bowl, stir in minced dill, and season to taste with salt and pepper. (You should have about 1½ cups.)
- Step 4
Make the kebabs: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and fold with very clean hands until fully incorporated. Divide mixture in half, then divide each half into 6 equal balls. Working on a clean cutting board, roll them into cylinders about ¾ inch in diameter. Cut each cylinder in half to form 24 small logs.
- Step 5
Cook and serve: In a large skillet over medium-high, heat oil until shimmering. Add the logs, working in batches if necessary to prevent crowding. Cook on one side until well browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on second side until well browned and cooked through, another 1½ minutes. (Alternatively, cook on a hot grill until lightly charred and cooked through.) Transfer to a serving plate.
- Step 6
Serve with sumac onions, garlic-dill mayonnaise, cherry tomatoes, arugula, hot sauce and Turkish bread or pita.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
What is a good replacement for sumac? Or, where is a good place to buy it? I live in the NYC area for reference...
The attraction lies in the knowledge that an animal didn't die to put it on your plate. The vegans I know enjoy mock meats for a few additional reasons: 1. Cooked properly, new options actually taste good! 2. They're protein-dense, and usually easy to prepare and eat, and 3. You can go to a restaurant with omnivore friends and eat a burger that looks like theirs. Having food that doesn't instantly mark you as "other" is a nice change.
I make a seitan version of this (I make my own seitan using the same seasonings plus) and serve with cacik and zhoug (which we practically eat straight out of the bowl it is so yummy). Looking forward to trying the sumac onions! zhoug: whir together 1 cup cilantro 2 tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 1 jalapeño 1 garlic clove ¼ teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon ground coriander ⅛ teaspoon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper
If you are not a strict vegan and want a quick shortcut, you can substitute the garlic mayo with some plain Greek yogurt like Chobani and one fresh garlic clove minced or run through a press. Add shredded or diced cucumber and dill to the yogurt sauce if you have it.
This dish was amazing, receiving rave reviews from vegans and omnivores at the table. I halved the amount of garlic in the mayo, and it was still intensely flavorful. I used za'atar, an Israeli spice mix which contains sumac, instead of plain sumac, which was delicious. I buy za'atar in a spice market near my home, but it is sold at some supermarkets, and online. This will be a regularly appearing meal on our table from now on.
Made this last night and it was delicious. Made some substitutions based on what we did/didn't have in the house: Used regular mayo (non-vegan, sure, but more umami); used Aleppo power; omitted arugula (not a fan). Also, I ended up making a dozen small patties instead of a gazillion little logs. For those who said it's too garlicky: No. One, it's delicious. Two, social distancing, baby.
I'm omnivorous as well but we grew up with Morningstar Farms breakfast links instead of traditional sausages (bacon was a totally different story!) For me, I've never quite been able to get used to the grease that comes along with a lot of the sausage or beef products so depending on how they're cooked, will go either for meatless or traditional meat products. Had an impossible burger the other day for the first time and I had to check with my waitress as I thought she brought me someone else's!
If you knew about the horrible cruelty of factory farms and the deplorable conditions in slaughterhouses you might understand. Also, I don't have to handle fake meat as though it's hazmat.
The Beyond crumbles don't hold together, but the Beyond "brick" that looks like a package of ground beef will work well. I always use the brick because it swaps beautifully into recipes that call for ground beef.
This was delish! I am also thinking that the little kabobs are a perfect size for hors d'oeuvres at my next party. If there ever is a next party. Lawd. At that party I will serve them on a bed of arugula and cherry tomatoes with the onions, garlic mayo and toasted pita on the side for my lovely guests!
Yvez and Gimme Lean companies also make vegan / vegetarian hamburger and sausage substitutes that can be substituted for meat. I have been using them for years. They are also less expensive.
As a viable substitute for sumac you can mix lemon zest from one lemon with a Tablespoon of ground black pepper and a tsp of salt
I have this meal regularly but make it with the Serious Eats oven-baked falafel recipe. I'm omnivorous but I will never understand the attraction of imitation meat products.
Kalustyians is the most amazing place in NYC to buy all kinds of spices and cooking products. Worth a visit!
yogurt is not vegan
Questions: Do the logs reheat well? How are they if cooked earlier and then eaten at room temp?
Is 20 cloves of garlic insane? How many cloves would be a better option?
Did two batches for mixed vegan/carnivorous company, one with Impossible and one with ground beef. Put beef on skewers on grill, impossible in patties on grill (wouldn't hold together). Everyone loved it.
I had more success with this after refrigerating the mixture for 30 min before frying. Absolutely delicious!
1/4 recipe for sumac onions: 3/4 tsp sumac 1/4 red onion 1/4 cup parsley leaves
Brilliant recipe! A guest who hates Impossible burger "meat" loved this dish. I actually served it in a corn tortilla, so it would be gluten free. Call it a Sumac Turkish Kebab Taco. Made a tomato Greek Salad with Trader Joe's vegan Feta instead of the cherry tomatoes and arugula to go with it. So good I made it two days in a row.
Didn’t have ancho or Urfa, so substituted with same amount of smoked paprika and couple of dashes of chipotle pepper. Very flavorful.
Aleppo Pepper is a great sub
I made this for dinner today, and it was great. I had no sumac, so I used about a tsp of lemon zest instead in the kebabs, and a bit of lemon juice (and salt, and a pinch of sugar) in the marinated onions. Impossible burger is amazing stuff, it made fantastic kebabs. Served with tomato, sliced cucumbers and a big handful of power greens from Costco stuffed into pita breads which didn't all puff. Still delicious!
THESE ARE SOOOOO GOOD! We just loved them, and now I crave them constantly. Made as written with a couple of exceptions: Made just half a batch of the garlic mayo, and took the suggestion of roasting the garlic instead of poaching—it’s just delicious. A wheat allergy makes flatbread not an option, so we served the kebabs over brown rice with the mayo, the sumac onions, arugula, grape tomatoes, and some TJ’s vegan tzatziki (which is surprisingly good), because I’m allergic to dairy, too.
Made this for dinner guests last night and I thought folks were about to pass out with how much they rolled their eyes. But no, they were ecstatic. These are AMAZING. Though my husband and I are vegans we've never been fond of the Impossible or Beyond meats at restaurants (except at Fuku) or at stores. Now I know, you gotta add flavors to these "meats". Oh Kenji, how do I love thee? P.S. yes, it's a LOTTA garlic in the mayo. I like garlic but I will tone it down for next time.
Sub for sumac: lemon zest and tablespoon of ground black pepper and tsp of salt. / squeeze of lemon and paprika.
Sumac can be purchased from Penzey's! We've made it four times now. 1st time my husband made it exactly as the recipe says. Subsequent times we skipped the mayo and made more of a tsaziki using vegan yogurt or a tofu based recipe. We feel the mayo is just WAY too heavy and cooking and processing the 18 garlic cloves et al is too much work to get it. As one who usually uses a heavy hand on spices, I'd say don't on these kebabs; they're very flavorful as written and more makes it bitter.
Made these as burger patties with lettuce, tomato and tatziki. Flavor was on point, but I might go a little more aggressive on spice mix next time. They were a nice change from regular beyond burgers.
Please make sure you buy sumac that isn't cut with salt. I've never bought sumac from anyone but my local Arab grocery store (an Arab here) and I didn't know it was a thing. It is a thing. A very salty thing that will ruin your dinner. Make sure it's just sumac.
Fantastic!! Tasted so so good. Didn't find urfa pepper or ancho chile, and used Aleppo pepper instead, which worked out great.
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