Jeff Kontur’s Vegetarian Manwich Recipe January 7, 2012

Jeff Kontur guest posts today, and shares his new food creation. When he’s not in the kitchen, Jeff is a freelance copywriter and business builder. Among his many hobbies and interests, he loves photography and experimenting in the kitchen. Jeff lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, three kids, three dogs, two cats, tree rats and three chinchillas. His latest book, Fat-Free Marketing is available completely free from his website www.FatFreeMarketingGroup.com.

Over the years, I’ve had many bouts of being vegetarian, pescatarian, and just about every other kind of “tarian” you can think of. Never for moralistic reasons. Mostly, it has been out of health consciousness.

This recipe is a project that came about shortly after I adopted a new rule for all my grocery shopping: anything with only one ingredient (i.e., eggs, milk, beef, carrots, etc.) was automatically fair game. For foods with more than one ingredient, I would read the ingredients label and determine how much artificial crap was in there. Buying decisions were based on the desire to consume as little crap as possible.

As a kid, I grew up with Manwich. It’s one of those meals I remember fondly from my childhood. Of course, just like anyone, I ate a lot of junk in my childhood. Being more health conscious now, I wanted to find ways to still enjoy the foods I used to love but do it in a healthier way. So I set about trying to duplicate the taste and texture of Manwich.

I started by picking up a can of Manwich sauce from my local grocery store shelf and reading the ingredients. Luckily, Manwich actually isn’t too heavy on the garbage and all the flavor comes from significant ingredients. Just as luckily, all of the ingredients are readily available. Of course, I made a couple of minor substitutions (like using agave syrup) in order to keep the proper texture.

Speaking of texture, the tougher part of this project was finding a substitute for ground beef. Of course, I could have just used ground beef, but if I was going to make up my own recipe, where’s the fun in that? Under my criteria, I also don’t think that the typical “meat substitutes” qualify as healthy. They have just as many chemicals and fillers as anything you’d find in the cookie aisle.

After a bit of thought, I realized that beans are high in both fiber and protein. Firmer varieties might make an excellent meat substitute. Ultimately, I decided to combine several different varieties for several reasons: to vary the texture, to balance the nutrition, and add more depth to the overall flavor. Not all beans are the same, so mixing them gave great benefits in achieving all three goals.

Note that you may substitute other types of beans for any of those I have listed here, but try to keep at least three to four varieties. You want at least half the beans you use to be firm. I used Garbanzo and Pinto beans for my firm ones. You could also use Great Northerns, black-eyed peas, split peas, or even lentils. Avoid very soft beans such as butter beans. Even my choice of black beans was questionable, but I wanted some of the unique nutritional value they offered.

So here’s the final ingredient list:

• 29 oz. can tomato sauce

• 2 T white vinegar

• 2 T sugar

• 2 T organic agave syrup

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp BBQ seasoning

• 1/4 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped

• 1/4 red pepper, finely chopped

• 1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

• 1/2 tsp garlic

• 1/2 12-14oz can each:

garbanzo beans, dark red kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans

Saute onion, garlic and both peppers in the bottom of a medium-large saucepan. (All of this can be done in one pan.) Add all remaining ingredients except beans. Stir well and simmer.

Rinse and drain all the beans. Mince them finely with a hand chopper. (The black beans and kidney beans are relatively soft so an electric chopper would be too aggressive.) Add the beans to the saucepan, mix well and simmer over medium heat until hot.

Dive right in! Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Serve with a slice of smoked gouda on a lightly toasted Jewish challah roll. (You can usually find these only on Fridays, when they are made for the Jewish sabbath.) Garnish with kumquats and pair with a glass of Merlot. Yum!

Thanks for the great recipe, Jeff. I hope you’ll come back to share others you create.

Interested in writing a guest post? Contact me at rotunda56303@hotmail.com.