Spicy Lentil Sloppy Joes
1 cup lentils (brown or French green)
4 cups water
2 small onions, chopped
veggie oil (for frying, and a little extra for the sauce)
1 cup tomatoes (fresh preferred), chopped
4 tablespoons molasses
2 splashes apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar)
3 tablespoons mustard
hot sauce or cayenne powder, optional, to taste (I prefer Lousiana Hot Sauce)
2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 dashes garlic powder
few pinches ground sage (don't go overboard though)
few dashes cumin
few dashes onion powder, optional
few healthy pinches basil (fresh or dried)
few dashes turmeric, optional
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 cup tomato sauce
bread, for serving (I like something crusty, like French bread, or maybe hamburger buns)
1. Boil lentils with water on a fairly high heat, covered, with salt, until softened. On a separate burner, fry onion with a splash of oil on medium-high heat, until the onions have softened and browned slightly, but are not transluscent. Add your tomatoes, and let cook with the onions for up to five minutes. If your lentils are still cooking at this point, kill the heat for the skillet before you add your other ingredients.
2. Add all other ingredients to the pan except for tomato sauce and bread, and let sit until ready to add the lentils. Stir everything together a little. Once the lentils are cooked through, combine in the pan with the sauce. You may not want to include ALL of the lentils, depending on how "runny" you want your mix to be.
3. Add your tomato sauce, and turn the heat on to medium or medium-high to allow the flavors to mix (for about ten minutes). Serve hot on bread of choice (you may need a knife and fork for this!).
Source of recipe: I've never liked sloppy joes when I've had them before (they probably weren't the best quality), but these I loved, as did my sister who doesn't even like lentils. Not to toot my own horn, or anything, but they were my concoction.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I made use of my free time to cook up this recipe for later tonight, because probably I wouldn't have the time to make something later in the day. Unfortunately, a tasted that danged thing before it was even done, and immediately got the cravings; no dinner for me, basically.
I didn't have any buns, or anything like that, so I made a burrito and slathered all that thick, wonderful, and succulent sauce over it. Crazy good.
This was really good. I mean, realllyyy good. ;)b
I'm so glad! :) I like it because it doesn't require anything too unusual- that is, you'll probably have most of these ingredients around the house.
This was really good. I mean, realllyyy good. ;)b
Sorry, some editing: for the mustard, you'll want to add a pretty good amount- around 3 tbsp or more, I think (as opposed to a small pinch!). You'll also want to probably use more tomato sauce than I initially wrote- something like a cup instead of half a cup (unless you decide to use more diced tomato!).
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