Philly Cheese Fakes on Homemade Hoagies

Oh man. Oh man.

I made these hoagie rolls last night, and they were the bomb. Yes, I just broke out the 90's because they were so good. Cliff Huxtable would have been happy.

Hello. I am tender and delicious.

I've been trying to bake all the bread and roll type things that go with our meals lately, with varying results. Everything's been edible, and most things have been decent, but these hoagie rolls were really good. I used to them to hold one of my favorite vegetarian sandwiches, Philly Cheese Fakes. I didn't think to take pictures of the roll making process, but I definitely want to share the recipe, which I slightly modified from a Food.com recipe.

The number of servings you get out of your filling is really going to depend on how you pack your hoagies. The original recipe lists it as 4 servings, whereas I think I could get 8 out of it. Also, you could make fewer, larger rolls, but I was happy with the size that dividing into 8 provided. I was plenty full with just one sandwich the way I made it, but Matt had two.

Philly Cheese Fakes

Recipe for filling from Taste of Home Magazine, as submitted by Veronica Vadakan

Recipe for hoagie rolls from Food.com

Ingredients for filling:

1/4 C lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 # sliced mushrooms

2 medium green peppers, sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

Ingredients for hoagie rolls:

1 package yeast

1 1/2 c warm water

2 T honey

1/8 c vegetable oil

1/2 T salt

2 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 - 2 1/2 c whole wheat flour

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine 1/4 c warm water, yeast, and honey. Let stand 5 minutes.

2. Add remaining 1 1/4 c water. Beat in oil, salt, 1 c whole wheat flour, and 1 c all purpose flour. Slowly add additional 1 cup all purpose flour. Add remaining whole wheat flour (approximately 1/2-1 cup) slowly until a soft dough forms. (I used my kitchen-aid mixer with the dough hook.)

3. Lightly flour a clean surface using whole wheat flour, and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, approximately 6 minutes. Be careful not too add too much flour while kneading - the dough should be just slightly tacky when finished working.

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat (or spray with cooking spray). Cover and place in a draft-free area to rise, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

5. Punch dough down. Divide into 8 even pieces (use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact) and roll into sausage shaped loaves. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Slash each roll down the center (not the way I did in the pictures, the long way), approximately 1/8-1/4" down.

6. Place shaped rolls back into a draft-free area to rise for 20-30 minutes.

7. Bake at 400 degrees F for 13-15 minutes.

For the filling:

1. Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl to make a dressing.

2. Add mushrooms, peppers, and onion strips to a large bowl. Pour dressing over veggies and toss to coat. Spread coated veggies evenly over two greased baking sheets.

Veggies ready to cook.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring veggies and rotating pans halfway through. 

And finally:

Slice open a freshly baked roll. Pile in cooked veggies and top with desired amount of provolone cheese. Wrap loosely in aluminum foil, leaving the top exposed, and bake at 450 degrees F until cheese is melted and browning.

Serves 8.

Yum.

Nutrition Facts for Filling

Calories - 41

Fat - 2g

Carbs - 4.7g

Fiber -1.4g

Protein - 2.3g

Nutrition Facts for Rolls

Calories - 276
Fat - 4.1g
Carbs - 52.4g
Fiber - 1.9g
Protein - 6.8g

I had mine cheese-free, so it was very close to being vegan (except for that honey in the rolls). That brought the calorie count to 317 calories. So close to being under 300!

Tortilla Pizzas

The Little One's dinner choice for this week was, as it almost always is, pizza. When she says pizza she really wants Pizza Hut or a boxed kind from the store, but those don't really fulfill my goals of healthier, cheaper, and homemade. Last week I had made some pretty stellar tortillas, as based on a recipe from The Cooking Actress, so I thought why not try to make them into personal pizzas? In addition, I wanted to make my own sauce.

Here's what I came up with. I thought they were pretty tasty, and I even managed to sneak some spinach into The Big One (The Little One, of course, did not eat hers). They were so tasty, in fact, that I started tearing into mine before remembering to get a picture, hence the ragged edge shown in the pictures here.

For these pizzas, you will be making the tortillas and the sauce, and topping with whatever you'd like.
Start with making the sauce, which is super easy and can be made ahead.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, diced
8oz tomato paste
2T extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c baby spinach, finely chopped
2/3 c water

Instructions:
Mix everything together in a bowl or seal-able container. Add more water for a thinner sauce or less for a chunkier sauce, depending on your preference. Let the sauce sit in the refrigerator for an hour to allow the flavors to blend and mellow, then use to top your pizzas. Store leftover sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Makes approx 3 cups of sauce.

Nutrition information per tablespoon
Calories - 10
Fat - 0.6g
Carbs - 1.2g
Protein - 0.3g

Tortillas and Pizzas
Adapted from The Cooking Actress

Ingredients:
2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 tsp butter
1 c water

Instructions:
1. Pulse flours, baking powder, salt, and butter in a food processor fitted with the dough blade, until crumbly. (The dough blade is important. I forgot this time and used the regular blade, and they weren't as puffy and tender this time. The blade is the only part that was different, so stick with the dough blade.)

2. With the food processor on, slowly add the water until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough becomes too tacky, add more flour. (Though I've never had to do that.)

3. Remove the dough and divide it into 12 evenly sized pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and cover them with a clean kitchen towel. Let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Remove one dough ball from the towel and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Roll it, then left completely and give a quarter turn, and repeat until you have a flat circle approximately 8" across.

Dough ball ready for rolling.

5. Spray the heated pan with cooking spray and plop the dough disk onto the pan. Quickly top with sauce and whatever toppings you desire (cheese, veggies, etc.). Cook until the edges are lightly puffed and soft but dry, and cheese is melted - approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate and serve immediately.

Pizza station assembled and ready for quick working.

Makes 12 tortillas.

Nutrition information per tortilla
Calories - 129
Fat - 1.9g
Carbs - 24.2g
Fiber - 0.9g
Protein - 3.2g

Finished pizza, minus a side because I am impatient.

One tortilla with 3T sauce and 1/3 cup low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese is 266 calories.

Mini Honey-Mustard Meatlessloaves with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans

Every week we let each person in the family pick out a dinner they want to have that week. We round out the list with one more, and usually with leftovers and all five dinners worth turns out to be enough for the week. This is not always an easy thing. The kids rarely want anything to do with what we want to eat. I try to eat mostly vegetarian and am also trying to eat generally healthy, so some picks make it tough on me. I also try to use up things we already have, so as to save at the store. This week I put a lot of thought into how to tweak things to fit what we had on hand.
 

Here was Matt's pick for this week. I edited it to be vegetarian. The TVP held up well as a beef substitute here. While it's not the most shining example of a healthy meal (yes, I know about TVP being processed and all), it is relatively high in fiber and protein without an exorbitant number of calories. The cheese and honey mustard could easily be left out if you wanted to improve on those aspects, as well. Or throw in a nice salad instead of the sauteed green beans.

 

Mini Honey-Mustard Meatlessloaves with Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Green Beans

Adapted from www.marthastewart.com

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 T honey mustard
2 T organic ketchup
1 1/2 C dry TVP reconstituted in 1 1/4  C vegetable broth
1/4 C egg substitute
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/2 C low-fat cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp onion powder
1# sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 C green beans, washed and ends removed
garlic powder, to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with oil. In a small bowl, mix together 2 T mustard and the ketchup.

2. In a medium bowl, combine reconstituted TVP, egg substitute, breadcrumbs, 1/2 C cheese, sage, onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Form into four roughly 2x4-inch loaves. Place on baking sheet. Brush with mustard mixture. Top with remaining 1/2 C cheese. On another rimmed baking sheet, toss potatoes with 1 T oil. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

The naked loaves are not too pretty.

3. Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of over, and place potatoes on lower rack. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate sheets and turn potatoes. Bake until loaves are cooked through, an addional 5-10 minutes. Remove loaves from oven. Continue to cook potatoes until tender, about 5 minutes.

Going into the oven.

4. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 T olive oil in saute pan over medium heat. Add green beans. Sprinkle with garlic powder and pepper. Saute until crisp-tender.

My favorite way to cook green beans.

Serves 4.

Nutrition Facts (from caloriecount.about.com)
Calories - 523
Total fat - 19.2g
Total carbs - 68.2g
Fiber - 13.2g
Protein - 28.7g

Nutrition facts are for 1 loaf, 1/4 of potatoes, and 1/4 of green beans.