Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sliders

Have you ever tried something new and just been blown away by it? I have to admit, when it comes to trying new food things it takes a lot to surprise me. 

When I first heard about jackfruit I was skeptical. I mean, using fruit as a meat substitute? I don't think so. Then jackfruit started showing up on all the "new food trends" lists and I knew that Sue and I had to give it a go. Unfortunately, living in Lillooet meant we didn't immediately have access to it. We were very patient however and eventually jackfruit made its way to town. 

We used this prepackaged, already shredded, original jackfruit from Upton's Naturals (website HERE) for our recipe but we'd love to be able to try it with an actual jackfruit one day!

Anyway, this surprised the heck out of me. 

Seeing it in the pan confused my brain. I mean... it looks like meat. Totally like meat. Look....

How is that fruit?

I don't know. It's so weird. 

But, as we often say, weird is good. In this case, weird is amazing! If you haven't given jackfruit a try then we encourage you to do so. This recipe is completely vegan but you don't have to be vegan to thoroughly enjoy it. Our parents didn't even know it wasn't meat. 

So. Much. Fun.

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sliders

Ingredients

Caramelized Onions

2 Tbsp oil

2 large onions, sliced

salt & pepper

Fried peppers

1 Tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 medium portobello mushroom cap, sliced

Jackfruit

2 (7 oz/200 gr each) pkgs shredded, plain jackfruit

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1 tsp soy sauce

Garlic Butter

1/3 cup vegan butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

12 slider buns 

12 slices of vegan provolone (We used Daiya provolone see HERE)

Directions

In a medium frying pan over medium-low heat, place the 2 Tbsp oil, 2 large, sliced onions, and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook and stir until onions starts to sizzle. Immediately turn the heat to low. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring every couple of minutes, until onions are caramelized. This should take between 30 - 40 minutes. 

When the onions are done, remove them from the pan to a bowl and set aside. In the same pan, place the 1 Tbsp oil, garlic, peppers, and mushroom. Turn heat up to medium. 

At the same time, in a separate non-stick pan, place the jackfruit and spices, sugar, liquid smoke, and soy sauce. Cook and stir gently over medium-low heat until heated through. This should take about the same amount of time as the peppers to cook - about 8 minutes. 

When the peppers are done cooking, add the onions back to the pan with them. 

In a small bowl, combine your vegan butter, garlic, and garlic powder. Brush on both the top and bottom inside each bun. Place the buns, face up, on a cookie sheet. 

Place half a slice of Daiya provolone on the bottom half of each bun. 

Turn on the broiler in the oven. Place cookie sheet on the middle rack in oven until cheese just starts to melt, about 1 - 2 minutes. 

Remove from heat and top each bottom half with 1 spoonful of the jackfruit mixture.

Then top with the onion/pepper/mushroom mixture.

Lastly, top with another half of Daiya provolone.

Place back in oven under broiler (middle of oven) until cheese is melty - about 5 or so minutes. If the top of the buns start to get too toasty then just pull them off the cookie sheet and place them on the counter until cheese is melted. 

Place top bun on top of the provolone.

Serve immediately. 

Hard to believe it's vegan, am I right?

FYI - we purchased vegan slider buns, we didn't make them. 

They are a little bit of effort to put together but nothing terribly difficult. Totally worth it, IMO. 

These sliders are perfect for game night, ladies night, after school snacks, or lunch time! 

Use a gluten free soy sauce and buy gluten free buns and not only is this vegan, it's also gluten free. 

Sue and I aren't vegan but we do enjoy vegan and vegetarian dishes. We can't wait to experiment more with jackfruit. What are your experiences with jackfruit? Are you a fan?

"So Many Vegetables" Soup With Sausages

I had a lot of veggies in the fridge that were on the verge of going bad. I'm terrible for that! I always over estimate how many veggies I'm going to eat during the week. 

Anyway, I decided to make the best of the situation and make a tasty, incredibly healthy soup. 

I have specified the measurements for the sake of the nutritional counts but feel free to add a little more of this or a little less of that as per your preference. (Just remember that it will change the nutritional count.)

I used Myfitnesspal to figure out the nutritional count:

208 calories, 27 carbs, 5 fat, and 15 protein. 

That is per serving. Serving size it 1/5th of the recipe OR approx 1 1/2 cups of soup, 1 sausage, and 1 Tbsp mozza. 

Trust me...that is a very generous amount. It is so nutrient dense that it is very filling. 

"So Many Vegetables" Soup With Sausages

Ingredients

3 cups broccoli (1 medium head)

2 cups zucchini (1 large)

2 cups squash (Delicata or acorn or similar)

1 large onion

2 cups carrot (2 large)

1 portobello mushroom cap

2 cups beets

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup fresh cilantro

2 stalks celery

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cups beef broth, low sodium

4 cups chicken broth, low sodium

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

5 turkey breakfast sausages

1/2 cup partly skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Prep all your veggies by coarsely chopping them (broccoli through celery). (The carrots and beets you should dice smaller than the others so they cook faster.)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, drizzle the sesame oil. Place all of the veggies into the pan. 

Cook and stir for about 10 minutes, until veggies start to soften. 

Add in the broth, bay leaves, and spices. 

Bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover, and let simmer until veggies are tender, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

When cooked, remove from heat and let cool until no longer steaming.

Remove bay leaves. Place warm soup into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. 

Pour pureed soup back into the large saucepan and place back over medium heat. Cook and stir until hot again - about 5 - 10 minutes. 

While soup is reheating, cook the breakfast sausage links. Cut the 5 sausages into small, bite sized pieces.

Serve soup - Scoop about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a serving bowl.

Take a second to admire how amazing it looks and how fantastic it smells.

Ready?

Okay. Now top with a Tbsp of Mozza.

And finish it off with one of the diced sausages.

**A couple of notes**

-- I used beef and chicken broth but if you want to make it vegan then use veggie broth.

-- I had to cook my squash in the microwave for 10 minutes to be able to scoop out the guts into the soup. Keep that in mind - depending on what kind of squash you use, you may have to precook it to cut/scoop it.

-- I used turkey breakfast sausages to cut down the calories but you can certainly use any type of sausage you like or skip it altogether. 

-- Add more cayenne and/or a dash of hot sauce if you like it spicy. I'm not a fan of too much spice so I just gave it a good sprinkle of cayenne.

Need something that is filling and full of SOOOO much healthy good stuff that your insides will thank you?

This is the soup for you. 

Be sure to stop by Carole's Chatter and Hun... What's For Dinner? for tons of great links! 

Portobello Lasagna Caps With Spinach Strawberry Salad and Garlic Toast

 

I debated whether I should post this dinner in one blog or  break it up into 3 separate posts.

See, Sue's daughter, Kenzie, and I made a tasty dinner for the whole family on the weekend and came up with 3 delicious dishes that ended up making a super de duper combination for dinner. 

I have decided to write one loooooong post and include all 3 recipes together just in case it might inspire you to attempt all 3 together too.

Of course, individually they are pretty great too! I've been eating the Strawberry Spinach Salad with Sesame Seed & Poppy Seed Dressing all week for lunch.

I think I will start with the salad to get things going:

 

 

Spinach Strawberry Salad with

Pecans and Sesame Seed & Poppy Seed Dressing

 

Ingredients

Salad

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

10 cups baby spinach

5 - 7 large strawberries, sliced

 

Dressing

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp onion, diced fine

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

 

Directions

In a skillet, toast pecans until fragrant and just starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

 

 

Place spinach in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the sliced strawberries. Set aside.

 

 

Prepare the dressing: Whisk together all dressing ingredients until combined.

 

 

Assemble salad: Sprinkle toasted pecans on salad. Drizzle with 2 - 3 Tbsp of dressing and toss with 2 spoons to combine. Drizzle with more dressing to reach your personal preference. (Store remaining dressing in airtight container in fridge). Serve immediately.

 

 

And to make the Portobello Lasagna Caps:

 

 

Portobello Lasagna Caps

 

Ingredients

6 large Portobello caps, stem removed

1 Tbsp butter, melted

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup + 6 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese (part skim), shredded

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place mushroom caps, gill side up, on prepared cookie sheet.

Combine melted butter and minced garlic.

Using a pastry brush, brush garlic butter onto mushroom caps.

 

 

Roast caps at 425 for 10 minutes.

While they are in the oven, prepare your filling.

Mix together ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella, and Italian seasoning.

 

 

Remove mushrooms from oven.

Top each with 1 Tbsp of spaghetti sauce.

 

 

Then divide the ricotta filling evenly amongst the caps.

Top each with 1 Tbsp of the remaining 6 Tbsp Parmesan cheese.

Place back in oven and cook another 10 - 15 minutes, until mixture is heated through and cheese is melted.

 

 

Serve hot.

 

 

Oooooh! Look at all that melty goodness.

According to Myfitnesspal ONE cap is worth: 180 calories, 8 carbs, 11 fat, and 15 protein.

Know what that means?

It means you can dive into all that melty goodness guilt free!

And, lastly, our recipe for the most garlicky garlic toast.

 

 

Garlic Toast

 

Ingredients

1/2 loaf French bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp dried chives

1 - 2 tsp Johnny's Garlic Spread (optional)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cut French bread in half horizontally using a serrated knife.

Mix together butter, garlic, garlic salt, chives, and Johnny's Garlic Spread (is using). Spread generously on both halves of bread. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese.

Place on prepared cookie sheet.

 

 

Bake at 425 for 10 - 15 minutes, until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Remove from heat, slice, and serve.

 

 

As you can see, I put the bread on the same sheet with the mushrooms so I could get everything into my oven at the same time.

 

 

I have to say, these recipes combined very nicely! Overall pretty healthy - okay, except for the butter drenched garlic toast - but you have to have some indulgence!

I don't normally like fruit in my green salads but Kenzie created this masterpiece after piecing together a few recipes she found online (Sorry, she didn't keep track of which sites she visited!) and she may be bringing me around to fruit in green salads.

The lasagna mushroom cap was amazing! I am definitely making them again. So lasagna-y. You don't even miss the noodles.

 

Head over to Jam Hands and Feeding Big and The Velvet Moon Baker for some fantastic links!

Asian Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Once again the cold and flu season has settled in at our house. Mom and dad are both coughing and sneezing and just plain don't feel well.

Mom wanted chicken soup but I just didn't feel like the "usual" chicken soup. I thought I would get all fancy schmancy and make a chicken soup inspired by some asian veggies and flavors.

This turned out really tasty if not exactly attractive.

The color is a little off-putting but don't let it disuade you from trying this recipe. The flavor is really deep and the textures are very satisfying.

What did the sickies think?

They both gave it 2 thumbs up.

 

 

Asian Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Ingredients

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp olive oil

10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce

1 small purple cabbage, shredded

2 portobello mushrooms, diced

2 baby bok choy, diced

2 cups broccoli slaw

2 Tbsp soy sauce

 1 Tbsp hoi sin Sauce

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1/4 cup cooking sherry

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups water

1 - 2 cups Chinese style Farkay noodles, broken in half

 

Directions

In a very large saucepan, heat oils over high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until only a little pink remains. Add in onion, garlic and sweet chili sauce and cook until chicken is completely cooked and onions are soft. Remove chicken to a large bowl and set aside.

Turn heat to medium-high, in saucepan cook cabbage until reduced by half and cabbage is soft. You may need to add a little water to prevent it from burning in the pan.

 

 

The cabbage takes about 10 minutes to cook down.

When cabbage is cooked, scoop it into the bowl with the chicken.

 

 

In the saucepan, place portobellos, baby bok choy, and broccoli slaw. Add in a little water to prevent this from burning.

Add in soy sauce, hoi sin sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sherry. Cook and stir until vegetables are cooked, about 7-8 minutes.

Scrape chicken and cabbage back into large saucepan. Add water and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add in the Chinese style Farkay noodles, broken in half, and let simmer until cooked.

 

 

The Chinese Style Farkay Noodles are similar to spaghetti noodles. They only take about 5 - 8 minutes of simmering to cook.

I ended up having to grab a bigger pot than in the photos above. This makes a fair amount of soup. I'm guessing it will serve about 15, depending on serving size, maybe a bit more.

FYI - The leftovers will soak up any extra liquid so when you reheat this you may find you have to add some more water.

Sue and Kenzie were afraid to try this as it does look a little sketchy. Once they had a bite though, they were hooked.

It is soooooo tasty!

Another FYI - you will not need to add any salt. The sauces you use in the soup have enough salt that additional is not needed.

Give this one a try when you want something a little bit different than the usual chicken noodle soup.

 

Be sure to visit Ms. enPlace for some great links! 

Portobello Risotto With Parmesan

I know at first glance it looks like there is raisins in the rice.

NOT TRUE.

It's diced portobello mushrooms...and they are delicious.

I was really happy with how this recipe came together. It was one of those "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" kind of recipes.

Apparently I have some tasty things laying around the kitchen.

I am so in love with recipes that you can make in under half an hour and only dirty one pan.

Portobello Risotto with Parmesan

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups chopped portobello mushrooms

1/2 tsp thyme

1 tsp parsley

1 1/2 cups basmati rice, uncooked

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

extra Parmesan for sprinkling on top

Directions

Heat oil in a large sauce pan. Saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes.

Add herbs, uncooked rice, and chicken broth.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, until rice absorbs the liquid.

Add the shredded Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Sprinkle with a little extra Parmesan.

Serve right away.

I'm thinking this is one of those super-de-duper easy recipes that your company doesn't need to know was easy to prepare. It is decadent and creamy and looks pretty darned fancy schmancy next to a pork chop or steak or some roast chicken.

I used basmati rice and this was definitely a bit "crunchier" than if I had used a short grain rice. If you would like it even creamier then definitely use a shorter grain.

I thought the texture was nice like this but that is going to be a personal choice. Mom and dad said they would have preferred it creamier.

Let us know what you think.

Check out Six Sister's Stuff and Carole's Chatter for some delicious links!

Portobello Pizzas

I find it so amazing that my mind can be so completely blown over the simplest of recipes.

Take these Portobello Pizzas for example.

They take about 10 minutes from start to finish, they're delicious, healthy, fairly inexpensive, can be tailored to meet your preferences, and are just overall crazy extraordinary.

True story.

I mean, what would you say if I told you in about 10 minutes you could be enjoying pizza deliciousness for under 100 calories?

You would probably say, "I don't think so crazy woman."

It's okay. I would forgive you for saying that because you simply haven't tasted these bad boys yet.

Portobello Pizzas

Ingredients

1 Portobello mushroom cap, whole

2 Tbsp pizza sauce

1 Tbsp shredded, aged cheddar

1 green onion, finely chopped

1 small slice tomato, diced

1 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Turn on oven broiler and let heat up while you prepare your pizza.

Carefully remove stem from mushroom and discard. Place mushroom, gill side up, in shallow oven safe container sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Spread 2 Tbsp pizza sauce on cap.

Then sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.

Sprinkle with toppings.

 

Top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

 

Cook under broiler until cheese is bubbly and mushroom is cooked almost all the way through. The bottom should still be a little stiff.

You can see in the photo below that the bottom of the mushroom is not quite cooked through. You want it to retain a little of its crunchiness so it is not soggy. If you do want to cook it longer that is up to you but then it will be a lot juicier.

Sue made something similar last weekend but she did hers on the BBQ and they turned out great. Hers were much squishier than mine. Mine you could pick up in your hands and eat but hers you definitely needed a fork.

I think it will be a personal preference how long you want to cook them.

I was thinking you could preheat the oven to 350 and cook them for 5 minutes AND THEN put them under the broiler as an alternative to just broiling them.

Oh, yeah, by the way - I left the oven rack in the middle of the oven to broil. If you move the rack up too high it will burn the cheese and the mushroom won't have time to cook at all.

Want the down low on the calories (according to Fitday)?

85 calories per cap. SERIOUSLY!!

I mean, 85 calories for a huge pizza type snack? Sign me up!

P.S. - only 2.5 fat, 9 carb, 7 protein.

I doubled the recipe to get the 2 pizzas in the photos above. I had them for lunch. 170 calories for lunch? Yep. that's right.

Plus it's veggies.

O.M.G. my mind is still blown.

Check out The Mandatory Mooch for some fun links!

Don't forget Blissful and Domestic and Carole's Chatter too!