Is Meat-Packing Really an Essential Industry?

I hope that all of you are as concerned about the outbreaks of positive COVID-19 cases at meat-packing plants as I am.

Although I understand that there are studies that say that COVID-19 can’t be transmitted by eating food, I am very concerned about the workers in these plants, and would invite you to consider listening to The Daily podcast from Monday, May 4th which interviews a plant shift worker from Sioux Falls, SD. For our President to require that the meat and poultry plants be opened because meat is “essential” not only puts these workers in jeopardy but also fundamentally misunderstands the issue of whether meat made from animals is truly essential in our diets.

I have been saying for many years that all of us can get the protein, taste, sensation, and mouth feel of eating meat by eating plant-based protein.

Here’s my latest example.

My husband and I both remember our moms making Salisbury Steak when we were kids.  My mother-in-law said that she actually used “round steak”, but my mom didn’t.

I could never figure out why it was called “Steak” when it just looked like a ground beef patty to me!  I think my mom fried some onions and used Campbell’s Condensed Mushroom to make a sauce.  My husband and I both remember eating Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes and either mushy peas or green beans.

I hope this is a time when even the most ardent carnivore may want to give plant-based meat a try.

Start with a package of plant-based ground meat.  My two favorite brands are Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef Plant Based Ground . . .

. . . or Awesome Grounds by Sweet Earth Enlightened Foods.

I decided to choose the Awesome Grounds simply because I had three packages in my freezer vs. one package of Beyond Beef!

If frozen, make sure your grounds are fully thawed. (You can still see a few spots of frost on mine!)

BTW, Awesome Grounds has my vote on the most realistic looking of the plant-based meat grounds!

What makes Salisbury Steak different than just a plain old burger patty is the fact that you are adding other ingredients before you form your patties. I first made a paste of panko breadcrumbs and milk, and then added vegan Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder,  minced shallots and parsley, onion powder, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Since I’m still recuperating from my wrist surgery, my handy husband did the mixing and formed the patties. . .

. . . which I then sautéed in olive oil in a large skillet (about 3 minutes per side). I turned one over at three minutes so you can see about how much they should cook at this stage. Remember, you are not cooking them completely at this step.  They will finish cooking in the sauce.

In the same skillet in which you partially cooked your patties before you removed them to a plate, you’ll make your sauce.  Even though the plant based grounds don’t have the same structure as meat, they actually still leave some fond in the pan that will lend more flavor to the sauce that will grace your Salisbury Steaks.  I made mine from shallots, garlic, minced mushrooms, red wine, tomato paste,  Better than Bouillon No Beef Base, hot water, cornstarch, and parsley.

Although mashed potatoes are probably traditional with Salisbury Steak, we wanted a more colorful plate, so we cooked peeled and cubed sweet potatoes with about 1/2 cup of water in our Instant Pot on high (about 12 minutes).  After draining off some of the cooking water, we mashed them with some So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Yogurt, which imparted just a hint of sweetness.

(Thank you Justin Chappel and Food & Wine for this spectacular idea!)

Here’s my recipe. I hope if your local grocery store’s meat counter is on empty that you will give this a try!