Wheat gluten, though problematic for some, is a great source of protein for most people. It is almost complete, having most of the essential amino acids that we can't make for ourselves. It is just a little short on Lysine.
One of the accusations targeted at vegan and vegetarian foods is that they are a poor source of protein. Often these accusations will point to low values of amino acids (such as Lysine) in various vegan ingredients (such as seitan / wheat gluten).
This is, of course, reductionist nonsense! It would only be true if someone only ate that one ingredient. Some meats, rabbit for example, have lower amino acid values, and you would get quite ill if you only ate rabbit. But nobody only eats one ingredient, we eat lots of other things alongside and get our nutrition from those as well.
Every food has some protein. Legumes, like beans and chickpeas have plenty of lysine. No healthy person eating a "standard western" diet, omnivore, vegetarian or vegan, has a protein deficiency. Many omnivores are probably deficient in food to feed their gut microbiome, but that is another topic.
Anyway, here is a quick recipe for an easy protein-rich breakfast sausage. This is a portion for one person, so multiply out for more people.
Ingredients
15g gram (chickpea) flour
200ml veggie stock
1/2 tsp onion granules
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
Pinch salt (just a pinch!)
Dash toasted sesame oil
Dash other oil (if needed)
Dash soy sauce
Make the stock and taste for seasoning. If it is low sodium, you might want to add the small pinch of salt. This is the source of salt for the recipe so too much will oversalt the sausages - which may be OK for you!
Mix the flours, onion and herbs together. And combine, bit by bit, with about half the stock. We go bit by bit to achieve a fairly firm dough.
Split the dough into 3 or 4 pieces and roll into sausage shapes. Add the remaining stock to a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add the sausages, add a lid and cook (mostly steaming) for about 15 minutes or until all the stock has been absorbed or steamed off.
Add a dash of toasted sesame oil to each sausage and turn to coat well and start to fry. Add a dash of a neutral oil if needed and continue to fry and colour the outside. Finally add a good dash of soy sauce and coat each sausage. Fry for another minute or so to get that dark coat.
