Hello friend, I’ve missed you. <—My exact thoughts upon taking the first bite of this.

Obviously, I’m not the first vegan on the planet who has used Daiya cheddar in an attempt to recreate an old pre-vegan fave, the mighty grilled cheese sandwich. I’ve seen this particular combo mentioned I don’t know how many times on vegan blogs, twitter feeds, etc. Even though I’m a huge fan of Daiya, for some reason, I had serious doubts about how good this would really be. I’m happy to say, I was dead wrong.

This. is. good. SO good!

This also marks the first time I’ve had a grilled cheese with anything other than cheese on it, and I’ve totally been missing out. I’m tellin’ you, tomatoes on grilled cheese is like the way tomatoes are meant to taste and never do.

Clearly, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal, as did my very skeptical non-vegan husband. There will be more of these in my house over the course of the next several months. Fo sho.

Vegan Grilled Cheese
Recipe courtesy of VegNews

Ingredients

1 tsp + 2 tbs Earth Balance, softened and divided
4-6 thick slices tomato
2 slices red onion (optional)
4 slices multi-grain sandwich bread
1 cup Daiya cheddar cheese

Directions

• Over medium-high heat, heat a cast iron or non-stick griddle
• Add 1 tsp butter and lay tomato and onion on the surface to cook
• Spread remaining butter evenly on outer sides of the bread
• Lay the slices of bread side-by-side on the griddle buttered side down and top each slice with 1/4 cup cheese
• Lay the tomato and onion slices on the open face of one piece of bread. Once cheese begins to melt, combine two sides and cook until both sides are lightly browned
• Cut each sandwich in half and serve immediately

Yield: Serves 2

I haven’t had sloppy joes in I don’t know how long. It was never something my mom made, so I think I only ever really had them at school. I did recall though, that I liked the taste of them back in the day, so when I saw this recipe in my go-to cookbook, I decided to give it a go.

These were good. But you know what I had forgotten about sloppy joes that instantly came back to me as we started to eat? They’re messy. Yeah, despite them actually having the word “sloppy” in their name, I forgot that.

Note about me: I have a SERIOUS issue with getting food on my hands – especially any kind of sauce (It’s a personal weirdness, I know). So how someone with a hang-up like that could somehow be responsible for planning a meal like sloppy joes is beyond me.

Anyway, if you are not weird like me, you will probably find these delightful – as will your children. Just do me a favor and never talk about how many napkins you went through. It gives me the willies just thinking about it!

Vegan Sloppy Joes
Recipe courtesy of Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tbs safflower oil (or any flavorless oil)
1/3 cup minced onion
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup seitan, finely chopped
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs tamari
1/4 cup ketchup
6 whole wheat burger buns
pickles, sliced for garnish

Directions

• Heat water over high heat in a medium saucepan. Once water is boiling, add lentils. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 30 min.
• In a separate sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion, bell pepper and carrot until tender, about 10 min. Add in seitan
• In a medium bowl, mix together the tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, tamari and ketchup
• Add mixture to the pan of vegetables and seitan. Combine thoroughly
• Drain the lentils (reserving the cooking liquid in case needed) and add to the pan of vegetables, stirring carefully to combine. If the mixture seems too dry, add some of the cooking liquid. Simmer 5 min.
• Toast the burger buns and serve mixture on the toasted buns with sliced pickles

Yield: Serves 6