A Sandwich is A Sandwich but...

Inspired by my post yesterday, I decided prepare a vegan variation on the classic Manwich meal.Substituting for ground beef, I used Yves' Meatless Ground - a staple in my kitchen (mostly as an ingredient in my Kick-Ass Vegan Chili). With no recipe on the can, I just followed my instincts and sauteed the ground soy in a little bit of canola oil for about 5 minutes.
As the "meat" browned in the skillet, I opened up the fresh can of Manwich sauce.

Interestingly, the ingredients are pretty wholesome, aside from the requisite High Fructose Corn Syrup. I wonder if real American sugar was used in the old days?
The sauce smelled exactly as I remembered from the 1970s. Salty, sweet, peppery tomato. Hopefully this can wasn't sitting on the shelf at Ralph's for 35 years.
After the "meat" was brown enough (It's not like it started out "raw"), I dumped the can of sauce over it and stirred up the "glop".
Well, it certainly looked and smelled how I remember Manwich looking and smelling. After about 10 minutes, the concoction seemed like it was ready to be served.

So, here it is - a vegan Sloppy Joe - newly dubbed a Veganwich. How did it taste? Um, kinda like ground soy product smothered in hot catsup. I wouldn't serve it to guests, but for a nice white trash comfort food type of thing, it would suffice. Next week: Hamburger Helper!

Manwich Is It's Own Reward

I recently came across my mom's collection of free cookbooks that you'd either get in the supermarket or by mailing away a 'proof of purchase'. Among these treasures was the groovy-looking 50 Famous Manwich Recipes booklet. Manwich was a popular 1970s brand of what was essentially canned 'sloppy joe' sauce introduced by Hunt’s in 1969. The recipe was basically seasoned tomato sauce that was meant to be added to ground meat product in a skillet. It was marketed as an enticing, seductive meal for manly men, but was quite popular with kids. Just look at the packaging, sexy women looking to add sauce to your meat...

It was really a quick and easy way for a family on a budget to turn some cheap chopped meat into something more, kinda like Hamburger Helper. “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal!” Some of the 50 "famous" recipes: Sweet and Sauerkraut Franks, Heidelberg Cabbage Rolls, Pork Chops Hawaiian, Beefy Bean-a-roni, Teenwich Fun-do, and the ever-popular Sassy Coneywich. I don't think my mom ever made any of these, we just opted to dump the can contents over ground beef. And you wonder why I'm vegan today? For a kick, I may hunt down a can of the stuff (they still make it) and try it with ground soy product.

In the interest of education, the editors of the Manwich recipe guide also included a handy dandy guide to the Basic Four food groups - "Manwich falls into the first group, bit you'll find it happily compatible with all the other groups."