Fun "Meat"ball Subs!

After a very long hiatus, I'm back! Did you miss me? :)

So in our latest "let's be healthy" kick, my hubby ventured out to Newflower Market and found Gimme Lean Meatless Sausage.

Now, I'm not usually a fan of fake meat but, what the heck... maybe we can make something yummy :)

A quick search on allrecipes.com and recipezaar.com and I came up with this:

Sweet Tomato "Meat"ball Subs:

What you need for the meatballs:

3 tbsp water
3 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
14 oz. Gimme Lean Beef Substitute (you can use ground beef or chicken as well)
1/4 onion, finely chopped onions
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup 2% milk or whole milk
1/2 tbsp garlic paste (just chop garlic and smush it with salt)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of rosemary
1 tsp of chili powder
1 pound ground beef
pinch of cumin powder
1 egg white (optional)

Sub rolls and provolone cheese to come later

The "to do":

1. Preheat your oven to 325

2. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and combine them with 3 tbsp of water. Cook until all the water has evaporated

3. Combine the onions, "beef", milk, tomatoes, garlic, spices, bread crumbs and egg white in a bowl. Make sure it mixed together very well.

4. Form the mixture into golf-size balls and place on a non-stick baking tray. When done, pop them into the oven until they are a nice golden color. Should take about 25 minutes

Tip: If you are still getting used to the taste of fake meat or like your meatballs to be a bit more moist, add a couple of tbsps of ricotta cheese.

Next the Sauce.

What you need:

(This is really a hodge podge of veggies so pick and add as you like!)

2-3 tbsp of olive oil

1 16 oz can of tomato sauce

8 oz of diced tomatoes

1/4 white onion (if large), 1/2 if it's a medium to small onion, chopped

1 stem of green onion, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

4 oz of mushrooms, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

red crushed peppers, salt, pepper to taste

1 pinch of rosemary

3-4 leaves of basil, torn into small pieces

The "to do":

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan and saute onions, garlic first and let them get a bit soft first

2. Add in mushrooms and bell peppers and whatever else you want (zucchini, squash, etc)

3. add in your spices and let this cook for a bit till all the veggies r soft

I like my sauce to be smooth over chunky so if you like it chunky, just add in your tomato sauce and diced tomatoes at this point and let it come to a boil

If you like it smooth like me, keep going...

4. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sauteed veggies to a blender and pulse chop to get it all mixed up before you hit blend

5. Pour sauce back into the sauce pot and let it come to a boil. Make sure you taste it to see if the spices are to your taste!

Last but not least, the coming together of the incredible sub!

1. Slice your roll in half and remove some of the excess bread from the middle of one of the sides, essentially creating a "boat" in the middle of the bread

2. Assemble a slice of cheese (I used provolone and mozzarella) on one side of each of your your sub roll and place into the oven (make sure your meatballs are out!)

3. After about 5-7 minutes, the cheese should be melted and the bread nice and toasty

4. take 2-3 meatballs and drop them into your sauce and scoop them into the pocket you created on one side of your sub

That's it!! So yummy! Enjoy!