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Vegetarian Ribs Recipe

Recipe by: Laura J

"These ribs may be made with some pretty odd ingredients, but they really taste great! They are not difficult to make, and are very forgiving. However, it takes a certain amount of trust to make them. Even if your mix looks and feels like a huge mistake, keep on going, and bake it. The first time I made these, I did everything wrong, and they were still delicious. Even my excessively carnivorous husband liked them. These are great comfort food, and really stick to your ribs!"

Directions
Ingredients
Nutrition

Directions

Prep20 m
Cook1 h
Ready In1 h 20 m

1In a large bowl, stir together the gluten, yeast, paprika and salt. Pour in the water all at once and quickly mix with a sturdy spoon. Additional water may be necessary to moisten all of the dry gluten. Don't worry that the ball is rather solid, it is supposed to be. Pour off any excess water.
2If you want your ribs chewy, leave the ball just as it is. If you want it slightly less chewy, remove it from the bowl and knead for 1 to 2 minutes on a clean surface. Return it to the bowl, and coat with smooth peanut butter. Set aside.
3Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until golden brown. Remove from the heat. Pour the onion and oil over the ball of gluten. Poke a few times with a chopstick, knife or even a fork, allowing the oil to soak into the ball. Let cool.
4When the ball is just warm enough to be manageable, use your hands to mix the oil and onions in. There will be a lot of oil that will not mix in and tiny pieces of gluten that will not stay attached. That's okay. The oil mainly helps the gluten absorb the spice. Just mix as much as you can.
5Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
6Break off good sized handfuls of dough and shape them into strips by pulling and twisting. You want them to be about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Don't try cutting these, or rolling them out, as that will make them behave more like bread and change the texture appreciably. Place the strips on a greased baking sheet.
7Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and coat each piece liberally with barbeque sauce. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.