Pinterest Challenge Day 24: Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

I've made vegetarian sloppy joes in the past by roughly chopping up a bunch of portobellos and substituting them for meat, using the recipe on the back of a sloppy joe seasoning packet. I like those sloppy joes, but Andrew isn't a fan.

I had no pin in mind today. When the kids finally decided to take a nap this afternoon, I quickly scrambled to find a pin for dinner, as that was all I had time for today. In fact, I'm amazed I've found time to write this post. Crazy day!

Anyway, here is the vegetarian sloppy joe pin:
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066258253/

I used Morning Star Farms frozen crumbles for the "crumbled ground meat substitute." I forgot to buy the can of tomato puree, so I roughly chopped up three tomatoes that I had in the fridge and stuck them in the food processor. Hey, it's pureed tomatoes, so it works! Ahem.

I have to say, I enjoyed these sloppy joes, but they weren't what I look for when I crave a sloppy joe. They tasted like, well, barbeque sauce. Barbeque sauce is all well and good, but that's not what comes to mind when I think of sloppy joes. They were fine. They were good. It's just not really the type of food I'd seek out again. These probably will not make it to our kitchen table again, unless my husband specifically requests them.

Pinterest Challenge Day 11: Portobello, Broccoli, and Red Pepper Melts

Today's pin was a meal from the Meatless Monday site. I'd saved it and planned on making it, but never got around to it until today. OMG. I'm so glad I did. I'm going to go ahead and say that you have to make this.

Here is the pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066189785/

Remember: to get the recipe, just click that link, and then click the picture in the link. That's how Pinterest works!

When I read the ingredient list, I was a little confused about what "country bread" was. I'd never heard of it, but I thought I might find it at the store. Nope. So I picked out a loaf of pugliese bread. The next thing that confused me about the ingredient list was the quantity of vegetables. Four portobello mushroom caps for four slices of bread? Two red bell peppers for four slices of bread? How would all of this fit? I told myself that maybe the vegetables shrink a lot from roasting, so I went ahead and chopped all of those mushrooms and peppers in addition to the broccoli and garlic. Don't forget to always double the garlic in a recipe. I'm a garlic fiend, so that's my rule of thumb for the kitchen.

Anyway, yes, I chopped lots of veggies. I made the mayo smear, substituting Miracle Whip for the mayonnaise and doubling the garlic (OK, I quadrupled it). I smeared on the mayo mixture and topped it with the roasted veggies and...

...I had way too many vegetables. Who knows, maybe country bread is huge or something. I don't know. But I had so many vegetables and couldn't fit them on the bread. So, I made more of the mayo smear and sliced more bread. At seven, I decided to just stop because, really, there are only two-and-a-half eaters in this house.

Here's what I ended up with before adding the cheese:

And here are all of the leftover vegetables that didn't fit on top of the seven slices of bread:

So, yes, there were way, way too many vegetables for just four slices of bread. That's OK. Next, I sliced up some Gouda cheese and stuck it on top, like so:

I popped those suckers in the oven and ended up with these beauties:

They were garlic-y and perfect. I ate two, and they're quite filling. As I'm writing this, my mouth is watering thinking about how good these were, so I'm trying to resist the urge to go eat a third.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you, Pinterest.

Meatless Monday: Portobello Burgers

Welcome to another sporadic addition of Meatless Monday on my blog! In honor of the Fourth of July, I decided to finally post my husband's portobello burger recipe.

We try to grill out once a week. We don't have AC, so it keeps the house cool. The downside is that my husband is our household grill master, and I don't want to make him cook after he works all day. So, once a week, he takes over and grills.

One of my favorites that he makes is his portobello burger. He doesn't marinate them, but you definitely can. You can drizzle a little vinegar on them or soak them in some Italian dressing... or just eat them as is. Yum! The best part about grilling portobellos is, unlike meat, you don't have to worry about it coming to temp. Easy, easy.

You can make your own roasted red bell pepper strips. Wash your red bell pepper and stick it on the grill, rotating it occasionally, until the skin starts to blacken. Once it's cool, peel the flesh off and slice the pepper into strips. I do this sometimes, but here in Colorado, a red bell pepper is usually around $3, and a whole jar (which lasts longer) is about $4.

Here's the recipe for two:

2 portobello mushrooms, washed with stems removed
2 slices buffalo mozzarella cheese
2 whole what hamburger buns
garlic mayonnaise
8 fresh basil leaves
4 ounces jarred roasted red bell pepper strips


1. Spray your grill with a nonstick grill spray or lightly brush the grill with oil. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.

2. Place mushrooms on the grill, and grill for about 5 minutes on each side, or until tender. If desired, open hamburger buns and lightly toast them on the grill for a minute.

3. Spread garlic mayonnaise on both sides of both buns. Arrange 4 basil leaves on each bun. Place the hot mushrooms on each, and top with buffalo mozzarella and roasted red bell pepper strips.

Enjoy!