I stopped eating meat five and a half years ago after getting close to a lamb in Turkey. I only spent a few minutes with this lamb, whose name, translated, was Courage. But, as these were the closing minutes of the poor lambs life, the bond grew very strong, very quickly, before being severed by the knife of its killer. Perhaps, though, the bond is actually as strong as ever, given that I think about him most days.

Until that point in my life, I had been a voracious meat-eater. Most evenings, my dinner table resembled Fred Flintstones. I am no massive animal rights campaigner. I am quite happy to sit with people who are eating meat, neither do I mind cooking flesh for friends and family if thats what they want. I fear that makes me the Centrist Dad of vegetarianism. My logic is merely that, as I happen to be able to feed myself very well without any animals dying, I think it is the right thing to do.

My conversion seemed to coincide with the moment that plant-only eating passed the tipping point into the mainstream. It turned out that all manner of perfectly good meat substitutes were available in supermarkets, and the range has grown markedly since. All of which makes me feel a bit like a Leicester City fan who only started supporting the club the year they won the Premier League. Fans of other teams have a chant for people like that, to the tune of Bread of Heaven: Where were you when you were shit?

I would not blame veteran plant-eaters for chanting something similar at me: where were you when vegetarian food was shit? It doesnt scan as well, but it is a fair question. My answer is that I am beginning to wonder if missing out on the pre-Linda McCartney era was my loss. The more I taste of it, the more I like. A great example is something I had never heard of until last week: Sosmix. This miracle dry mixture is apparently something every 20th-century vegetarian was familiar with.

I was bought some last week, and Ive neither talked of, nor cooked, anything else since. What a miracle has unfolded before me. For the carnivores and fellow new plant-eaters among you, I should say it is a mix of dry ingredients roughly resembling fine muesli. You mix 160g of it with 250ml of water, leave it for five minutes, and then fashion it into sausages. It then says to cook them as normal but, disbelieving it could be this simple, I messed around wrapping them in foil and steaming them for an hour first. I had read somewhere this helps firm up homemade plant sausages. I have since found that even this isnt necessary with Sosmix.

Either way, as my daughters probably wouldnt say, the resulting bangers are banging. My favourites, until now, have been Plant Pioneers, Quorn or Linda McCartney. But from now on they are strangers to me, because these are right up there. So cheap, too! A kilo of Sosmix costs a tenner, which is enough to make more than 40 sausages. And oh the fun Ive had flavouring them! Dried mixed herbs worked well, as did my first attempt at a spicier sausage: chilli powder, paprika and cumin. This weekend, Im planning three new versions featuring sage and onion, smoked tomato and curry.

Unaccountably, Sosmix is quite hard to find. You can only buy it online, and it looks like the manufacturer has changed hands a few times, leading to some dark warnings about being sure to buy the original. It is well worth it. I have enough to keep us in vegan sausages until Christmas, when I hope Santa will bring me some more.

Adrian Chiles is a Guardian columnist

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The perfect vegan sausages from a dry mix: what other meat-free joys of the 70s did I miss? - The Guardian