Sweet-and-Sour Sloppy Joes

Sweet-and-Sour Sloppy Joes (adapted from Real Simple, Servings: 4, Total Time: 25 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 Tbsp. canola oil

·         3 green onions, chopped (used white parts only)

·         1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger

·         1 package Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles

·         ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

·         ¼ cup tomato paste

·         3 Tbsp. light brown sugar

·         ¼ tsp. black pepper

·         ½ cup water

Directions

1.      Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and ginger and cook, tossing, until softened, 2 to 4 minutes.

2.      Add the Burger Crumbles and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until cooked through, 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce, tomato paste, sugar, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ½ cup water and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute more.  Serve immediately on hamburger buns.

As I have been on a big Asian food kick lately, I thought that this recipe would be interesting to try.  Interesting it was, a huge success, it was not.  My husband was OK with it, but he didn’t love it.  I also was not big fan.  I think that the freshly grated ginger makes it a little too sweet.  If you try this (and it I ever make it again), I recommend cutting back to maybe ½ Tbsp. fresh ginger, maybe even less. When I added the tomato paste, I thought that it would overpower the dish, but it definitely didn’t.  All of the additional ingredients, save for the ginger, worked really well together.  I only used the white parts of the green onions because my husband is not a big fan and I knew that he’d see the green peeking out of the crumble mixture and not want to try it.  I think it hides nicely in the Sloppy Joe.

So, overall assessment: OK, less ginger should make it better.