Operation: Veganization – The Sloppy Joe

I have been intrigued by the world of Vegan for a very long time now, so of course I had to try my hand at making some sort of “veganized” dish. I was contemplating making a simple vegan wrap, but I just wasn’t satisfied giving you all something that simple. Then, it hit me: I will veganize sloppy joes. After consulting with my dear friend Queen, I ventured to the grocery store, and went hog wild in the produce and health nut departments. Here is what happened next:

It’s vegan time!

I started my vegan sloppy joes with two pounds of portobello mushrooms, one green pepper, a jalapeno pepper, and one large white onion. Before chopping this massive quantity of Earth’s goodness, I created my sloppy joe sauce.

#sauceboss

The sauce consists of the following: one can of tomato paste, two teaspoons of liquid smoke, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, one tablespoon each of chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin, two tablespoons of white granulated sugar, and one teaspoon of red chili flakes. Add one cup of water, and simmer the sauce on low heat, stirring every fifteen minutes. After the sauce started to simmer, I began chopping the mountain of mushrooms.

Dicing mushrooms is hard work.

Portobellos in the pan

Dice the mushrooms as fine as you can, and throw them into a large skillet with one tablespoon of your favorite olive oil. I’ve included the link to my favorite all purpose olive oil, so you can try it at home. Bring the skillet up to medium high heat, and stir the mushrooms around to coat them in the oil. Next, I diced the green pepper and added it to the pan.

Green Pepper getting diced

Next came the white onion. Here is a pro tip I want to share with you. If you’re like me, and cry when you chop your onions, throw them into the freezer about twenty minutes before you need to cook with them. I promise you no tears. Throw the onion into the pan with the rest of the veggies. Dice up the jalapeno, keeping as many or as little of the seeds as you desire. I personally like the heat, so I kept half the pepper’s ribs and seeds.

The onion trick really works!

Let the veggies sweat for another ten minutes in the pan. Allow all of the vegan goodness to come together in harmony. Drain the veggies in a strainer, and return them to the hot pan. Saute them for another ten minutes. While you’re waiting for your veggies to cook, enjoy this photo montage of my veggies cooking from earlier today.

#vegan

Vegan Goodness

More vegan goodness

Now, begin to incorporate the sloppy joe sauce into the veggies, adding a healthy amount and stirring. Turn your burner off and let the sauce and veggies continue to carryover. Stir in 3/4 of your sauce, and reserve the rest for topping during the final presentation.

Sauce+Vegan=???

Saucy Vegan Goodness

Now, grab your egg-less, dairy-less, and gluten free bun and pile on the saucy vegan goodness. Drip some of that extra sauce on top to make your sloppy joe extra sloppy and delicious.

Look at that presentation

One final look at the vegan masterpiece

I encourage everyone to try a vegan meal once, and experiment with veganizing your favorite food items. Since I’m not an expert, check out my friend Queen’s blog here. I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip to Vegan as much as I have.

Stay Hungry, Friends!

RS