Copycat "BIG MAC", meatless-style

Dev and I are at 'WEEK 3' of our 'meatless' experiment. (Although, we caved 2 nights ago and got a hotdog at the Central. Whoops.) Anyways, we had a craving for a BIG MAC, so we decided to attempt making them using veggie burgers. As it turns out, they turned out pretty tasty! The sauce was pretty spot-on and the texture of the veggie patty was surprisingly comparable to a McDonald's patty - yep... questionable ingredients, no? ;-)
COPYCAT Veggie BIG MAC4 Morning Star Grilled Patties
1 T dried onions, rehydrated
shredded lettuce
4 slices Kraft American Cheese slices
4 sesame seed buns
CopyCat McDonald's Special Sauce
1/2 C Mayo
2 T Kraft French Dressing
4 tsp sweet pickles
1 T minced onion
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Combine special sauce ingredients and refrigerate for and hour - or overnight. Re-hydrate dried onions (key ingredient!) with warm water for 15 min. Drain.

Heat patties per instructions. Cut the top half of 2 buns to make the 'middle' bigmac bun. Spread with butter, toast and set aside.

Top bottom bun with 1 T special sauce, rehydrated onion, lettuce, 1 slice of cheese, patty and middle bun.

THERE YOU GO! This was a hefty burger - both Dev and I only could only finish half. Next time, ONE patty will suffice. ;-)

Repeat...

Meatless Lasagna

Dev and I are still going strong with our 'meatless' experiment! A couple weeks ago we tried Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles for Sloppy Joes and it was incredibly mushy and disappointing. This time we used Boca Ground Crumbles and I have to tell you, the texture held up very well. Another surprise find was Lightlife Gimme Lean! Sausage Style. Holy! This stuff tastes just like breakfast sausage. Dev loved it.

Preheat oven 425FMeatless Lasagna
1/2 package Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage
2/3 package Boca Ground Crumbles
1 carrot
1 celery
1/2 onion
1 14oz can Mur Glen diced tomatoes (w/garlic & basil)
2 T tomato paste
1 C milk
1 C white wineFilling2 C cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
6 slices mozzarella cheese
Italian Cheese blend
Fresh Mozarella
Boca Crumbles and Gimme Lean.
Finely mince carrot, celery and onion.
Saute minced vegetables in olive oil until softned - about 5 min. Add tomato paste and saute until fragrant and nearly caramelized.
Add milk and simmer until evaporated. Add wine and simmer until evaporated.
In a separate pan, saute Ground Crumbles and Veg sasauge in olive oil until browned. Add to tomato mixture and stir in diced tomatoes.
I chose cottage cheese over ricotta because of a 'test kitchen' review I came across in Cooks Illustrated. Sometimes ricotta can have that gritty texture and it seems cottage cheese manages to retain a smooth texture. YEP. Puree cottage cheese and egg until almost smooth. In a small bowl combine cottage cheese mixture, parsley, parmesan cheese and salt. Layer sauce, noodles and top with cottage cheese mixture. Top with 6 slices moz cheese and shredded cheese.
Repeat layers.
Top with fresh mozzarella, shredded cheeseblend, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Increase temp to 450F, remove foil and bake an additional 15 min. or until cheese is browned. Cool for 15 min.
I made some garlic toast using roasted garlic cloves, butter and fresh parsley. YUM!

I can't believe it's not BACON

Mushrooms that taste like bacon? Seriously? The first time I heard about this insane concept was from our friend Joe. I didn't believe it until we tried it. It really does - similar to the fatty, crispy, burned portions of bacon. I am amazed. And those of you who know Dev, he LOVES his bacon and doesn't like mushrooms at all. He ate these and said he was 'pleasantly surprised'!

Preheat oven to 350F

Shiitake BACON
1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp sea salt




I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't have 1/2 lb of mushrooms. Also, I found a second recipe online that soaked the mushrooms in 1C soy sauce. I decided to mix half of the mushrooms I had with olive oil/salt and the other with olive oil and a couple spoonfuls of soy sauce.

Place mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30min.- 1 hour, depending upon how big you mushrooms are. Check up on them every 10min. (flipping/turning) and take them out once they become dark and caramelized. They will shrink half in size.


Let them cool completely. ENJOY!

*NOTE: I think the soy adds to the 'bacon' flavor illusion. But don't add BOTH salt and soy. I did this (a second time) and it is WAY too salty.

Spicy Club Fries

I love Cafe Happy in Kirkland. One of my favorite dishes is Spicy Club Fries. I have no idea why it is called club fries - maybe because everything is cut into matchsticks? - anyways, if you find yourself in Kirkland during lunch or dinner hours, stop by this place. It's Taiwanese Vegetarian, and so delicious.

I decided to try and make this dish the other night - Dev was out with the boys, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go. I know for a fact, Dev wouldn't eat this... even if he was starving to death. NOPE. Heh.

Spicy Stir Fry

Veggie Gold Roast (a quarter or less of the loaf)
(I think that is what it is called. It comes in a rectangle block)
Half of a large zucchini
1 carrot
4 small Shitake mushrooms
Chili Bean Sauce
1 garlic clove, diced
1/4in ginger, diced
Sake
soy sauce
vegetable broth


I bought this Chili Bean Sauce at Cafe Happy, so I knew it was the right ingredient to add. It is so good. You can add it to any dish as a condiment as well!

Slice veggie loaf and veggies into matchsticks

Heat oil and saute garlic until fragrant. Add veggie loaf and saute until it starts turning golden brown.

Toss in carrots and saute a couple minutes before adding the mushrooms, zucchini and ginger. Add a good spoonful of Chili Bean Sauce, a drizzle of Sake, broth and soy sauce. Stir fry until incorporated.


I thought it came out fairly good. Next time, I'll probably add some Sriracha Chili Sauce to make it spicier, but it was still good drizzling it on after the fact.

UPDATE: I just had the real dish today and there is definitely something I am missing, maybe mushroom soy sauce? There was a stronger mushroom taste than I remember, and less chili flavor, but with a lot of heat. So good.