Monday, April 23, 2012

Shhhhh

Don't tell the boys, but I decided to try and pull a secret Meatless Monday on them.



I hatched the plan when I bought the soy crumbles. Despite the fairly obvious packaging, the hubs - who puts away the groceries - didn't pay too much attention and threw it in the pantry along with the cereal and other random items. Luckily I discovered this snafu almost immediately and put the soy stuff in its rightful shelf in the fridge.

The recipe for tonight also made it easy to try and hide the soy stuff in casserole form. I don't know that this is even close to the healthiest, cleanest or leanest of recipes out there, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to attempt another meatless recipe.

Sloppy Joe Casserole
Source: Family Circle, May 2012

Ingredients:
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped (used 1)
  • 2 green peppers, chopped (used 1/2 red)
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped (used minced)
  • 1 (12oz) package soy crumbles
  • 1 (8oz) can no-salt added tomato sauce
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 package Arnold pocket thins, Italian Herb, split open
  • 1 c. shredded cheddar
Directions:
  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13x9 dish with cooking spray.
  • Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic. Cook 7 mins, stirring so garlic doesn't burn. Stir in soy, tomato sauce, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar, cover and simmer on med-low heat for 10 mins.
  • Line bottom of dish with half the flatbreads, tear to fit if needed. Spread half the skillet mix over breads, sprinkle with 1/2 c. cheese. Layer with remaining breads and skillet mix. Cover with foil.
  • Bake for 25 mins. Top with remaining 1/2 c. cheese and bake uncovered 5 more mins to melt cheese.
Yield: 6 servings
Per serving: 355 cals; 11g fat (4g sat); 24g protein; 47g carbs; 12g fiber; 805mg sodium (ACK!)

Reviews:
The only one who really liked this meal was... the hubs! In fact, I haven't yet revealed the "secret" ingredient, so I'll be curious to hear his reaction when he reads this blog. My hunch is he will claim he was on to the soy the entire time. Regardless, he dug right in and noted more than once how much he liked the meal. The kid didn't like it at all ("too close to hamburger pie") and while I liked the soy stuff, there was too much bread. I even removed the top half of the bread and just baked it as a single layer, because it was too much. I also didn't love the taste of the Italian Herb pocket thin.

Ranking:
Two Forks




2 comments:

  1. So, let me get this straight - we had a secret ingredient meal, allegedly healthy, which neither Chef Wifey or the kid enjoyed. In addition, it was a high sodium meal. Oooh, the trick's on me... Boo! (although it was fairly yummy)

    Chef Hubs

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so rude. PS - it probs wasn't as high in sodium as the recipe indicates since I removed more than half of the bread.

    ReplyDelete