Lentil Sloppy Joes

 One of the meals Scot misses from our "former eating days" is Sloppy Joes.  I miss them, too -- especially since I had such a great recipe for them.  Since we're not doing red meat anymore, I decided it was time to come up with a version of Sloppy Joes that I loved just as much as the sweet and thick meaty version.

So I took Mama Peas' Sloppy Josephine recipe and meshed it with my favorite Sloppy Joe recipe and came up with this!  I served it with some Black Bean Quinoa Salad and a regular green salad.  It was just what I was looking for.  Score!  We have also served this on top of baked sweet potatoes -- delish!

Lentil Sloppy Joes

Makes 8 "Joes"

Active Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serving suggestions: A hearty green salad, sweet potato wedges, a quinoa salad.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup dry lentils + 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 TBLS olive oil
• ½ cup diced onion OR 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp minced garlic OR 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 TBLS chili powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 14-16 oz tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 TBLS apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 2 TBLS brown sugar
• 8 whole wheat buns or sweet potato halves!
• pickles for garnish (optional)

What you'll do:

• Cook the lentils with the water until tender.
• Heat oil in a pot.  Once hot, saute onion until tender, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic, and continue sauteing about 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and add remaining ingredients.
• Once the lentils are done, add them to the pot and mix well.
• Toast the buns and top with the sloppy joe mixture.

Time tip:  Make lentils ahead of time.

              Use the dry ingredients and skip the sauteing steps.

if doubling: (something great to do since this freezes so well) take a large can of your favorite pasta sauce (24oz) and use that along with a whole 6ox can of tomato paste.