08.05.11_Veggie Sloppy Joes

Sad picture of the Sloppy "Veg-Head Joes" and sweet potato fries. I had a better picture but my camera decided to focus on only the bun...

On Friday my best friend Caitlin was coming into the city to have dinner and go out with us that night. After a year-long trip to Thailand, Caitlin became a vegan (much to my dismay). All of our favorite foods together could no longer be shared so I selfishly hoped that she would see the light and go back to her meat eating ways. Unfortunately for me this did not happen, so when we had her over for dinner on Friday the meal had to be vegan. I had found another Rachael Ray recipe that intrigued me for "Sloppy Veg-Head Joes." I thought this would be a good instance to try them as the only modification I'd have to make to make it completely vegetarian and vegan-friendly would be to substitute vinegar for the Worcestershire sauce since it apparently contains anchovies.

Phillip and I went to Whole Foods earlier in the week to buy all the ingredients. While standing in line to check out I had a mini-panic attack when I realized I chose a dish that two of the primary ingredients were tomatoes and onions, both things that Phillip does not eat. We decided he would deal with it, try them and if he didn't like it, we could find him something else to eat that night. Worst comes to worst he can have a delicious meal of sweet potato fries since I had planned on serving them as a side to the Joes. I did end up leaving out the onions from half of the Joes to appease Phillip a little bit since he was trying a tomato based meal.
Per usual, Ray Ray did not disappoint. The recipe was incredible easy, a "one pot meal," and did taste like Sloppy Joes to a certain extent. We followed the advice of one of the reviewers and mashed the black beans with a potato masher to make all the ingredients bind together, making the Joes a little less sloppy to eat. Phillip did a good job and ate his, but the fact that he only wanted one shows he wasn't a huge fan of this meal. Overall, they were pretty tasty and if you have a strong love for Sloppy Joes (which none of us do) but have decided to vegetarian, give this recipe a try.