Philly Cheese Steaks Without the Cheese, Steak, & Made Nowhere Near Philly
Mushrooms. I love mushrooms and if I could, I would eat them every day. We eat Quorn, but I just love mushrooms – shiitake, oyster, even got to try chanterelle’s once! Love them all, but my better half is allergic to sulfites (They occur naturally in mushrooms! Can you believe the nerve?!) so daily fungus intake would be a no-no.
Portobello mushrooms are my favourite. They are so meaty and rich – and I’ve always sort of thought of them as “vegetarian steak”, so of course it made perfect sense to try this recipe. I even made it vegan (although I knew masking the fake cheese was going to be difficult since my better-half doesn’t do fake cheese).
I should have cut the cheese thinner so it melted properly, but my darling was fooled temporarily and very impressed this wasn’t real steak. Well, until the first bite, of course – but it sure looked pretty!
I paired it with a cold mung bean salad and the meal was wolfed down in minutes. I’d consider that a positive response. Not that my better-half was against anything on the menu (he likes mushrooms, perhaps not as much as I do, but enough to have to remember his allergies), but I always try to bring something new to the table. We’ve both had proper Philly Cheesesteak (well, minus having been served them in Philadelphia) so having the vegan interpretation, our standards were pretty high.
Talk to me!
What’s your favourite vegetable? Do you eat it every day (or do you try)? Have you ever attempted to trick someone you were cooking for? Did it work?