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.

Homegrown Café (Newark, DE http://www.homegrowncafe.com/)

I absolutely love Homegrown and am sad that it is not closer to where I live.  The atmosphere is comfy/homey and welcoming and the selection of vegetarian/vegan meals (or meals that can be made that way) is great!  There are so many options that it was hard or me to choose when my husband and I went there.  I even had a tough decision on whether to go there for lunch or dinner, since the menu varies slightly.  We eventually opted for lunch, although I plan to go again soon for a scrumptious dinner.

I started off my lunch with a cup of the Southwestern Chili – a bean chili with peppers, onions, tomatoes, spices, and some homemade crackers to top it all off.  It was a little spicy, enough for me to take a sip of water after a couple of spoonfuls.  I definitely liked it and kind of wish I would have ordered a whole bowl.  The peppers, onions, and crackers provided some crunch to the soup; although, the crackers did get a little soft after awhile.  The crackers had a nice spicy kick to them as well.

For lunch, I decided to go with the Sloppy Joe and a side salad.  The Sloppy Joe is beer braised seitan simmered in house-made sauce, topped with caramelized onions and served on a country, crispy roll.  I ate the whole thing!  The seitan was so tasty!  It was almost like I couldn’t stop myself from savoring each bite while I was in the restaurant.  The caramelized onions were perfectly cooked and the house-made sauce smothering the seitan had a wonderful, tomato and BBQ taste.  The side salad was a bed of fresh greens and house vinaigrette.  There was just a touch of vinaigrette, so it was slightly dry, but the dressing that I did taste was similar to an Italian dressing, though not distinctly Italian.

I definitely recommend checking out Homegrown and enjoying all of the wonderful options that they have to offer!