Vegetarian Makeover

Josh and I have been vegetarians for almost two years now (Noah's always been a vegetarian).  It was such an easy switch for us that sometimes it's hard to remember ever eating meat.  Occasionally though, one of us craves a dish from our former carnivore lifestyle.  That's when we get creative and come up with a vegetarian makeover of the recipe.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't....and sometimes it's even better than the meat version!

This week when we menu planned Josh really wanted sloppy joes.  I can't remember the last time I ate a sloppy joe (high school, maybe?). I like them fine, we just didn't eat them much growing up and I never made them myself.  But I was ready to give it a shot!  So a vegetarian makeover was in order. 

Several brands make decent frozen vegetarian ground beef style crumbles.  We've tried morning star and boca. Both do the job but aren't fantastic.  We made a trip to Richmond last week so we decided to see what was available there for some of the ingredients we needed for the week. We love small town living, but one downside is you don't always have lots of options at the grocery store.  Our Food Lion in town carries a few products by Quorn and I love them.  It's one of the few vegetarian protein brands that doesn't use soy.  Their products are made out of a mushroom based protein...so yummy...so versatile...and a great texture.  Well it turns out they make the ground beef style crumbles! So into the cart it went for some sloppy joes for the hubby's request! 

Here's how I did my vegetarian makeover of the classic sloppy joe:

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Add the whole bag of Quorn crumbles and sauté for about 8 minutes until heated through and slightly browned.  Then add a 6oz can of tomato paste, one cup of water and a sloppy joe seasoning packet to the pan.  I really like this tomato paste and seasoning packet combo much better than the pre-made sauce in a can.  Stir together and let simmer for a couple minutes until the sauce thickens.  Serve on a hamburger bun, sliced bread, by the spoonful...anyway you can eat it! It's that yummy. So simple, but seriously, it's delicious.  

Josh was happy.  Noah was happy.  Dinner was a hit!  Do you have a recipe you're interested in finding a vegetarian makeover for? Write it in the comments below and I will give it a shot!