Lenten Series: Sloppy Lentils

As Lent is beginning to get closer to Easter, we have begun to realize that we need some other options besides stir fry and pasta! After searching for vegetarian recipes, I found this recipe, which we tried out, adjusting as necessary. Here's what we did:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups brown lentils
• about 5 cups of water
  
• a couple tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/4 lb. mushrooms (half of a small container)
• 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard (this would be your French's that you put on hotdogs)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup barbeque sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbeque Sauce)

In a saucepan combine the water and lentils until boiling. Let simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender. Dump the lentils into a colander and let sit in the sink. In a dutch oven heat the oil on medium heat and saute the onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms until tender. Add the tomato sauce, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar, salt, and barbeque sauce. Mix thoroughly then add the lentils. Reduce until it's a consistency that will stay on a bun and not drip off, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. Serve on warm buns.

I realized around 5:00pm that the original recipe was a slow cooker recipe, which required 8 hours to cook. Obviously that was not going to work for dinner that night! So I just cooked up the lentils on the stove instead. I needed to reduce the mixture afterwards, but that wasn't too big a deal since I was able to make up a salad and some french fries while it was reducing.

Carl said that this has been his favorite thing we've made in quite a while. Also, my in-laws were in town this week, and they really enjoyed this recipe too! The taste was quite similar to what you'd expect from a sloppy joe, but the texture was not quite right if you're expecting meat--it was a bit mushier. This is one of those recipes that improves with age; we made this about a week ago, and it was better today at lunch than it was the first time we ate them. Overall, I'd recommend these sloppy lentils!