Vegan Sloppy Joes From Food52 for the New Year!

Happy 2020, SCtBookers!

Y’all know I don’t like to clog up the recipes with a lot of chatter at the beginning, but I hope you’ll read through some administrative stuff I have here, as well as a small story.

Two things were likely immediately obvious when you opened this page.

One is that I haven’t updated since October after previously not updating since February.

“Why should I trust that you’re not going to leave me high and dry again, Sarah?” you may find yourself asking.

Because I’m loading up recipes in advance like a regular, normal person. I’m recommitting myself to Sarah Cooks the Books, and I hope you’ll join me.

The second thing you may have noticed is that my blog has a completely new look. The person who designed my old site had stored all the images she did for me in a Photobucket account that, apparently, no longer exists, so there were images missing, and at some point, users lost the ability to search, which I’m sure we can all agree is a terrible feature to not have on a food blog.

I also made the jump from Blogger to WordPress, and I’m honestly not sure what took me so long. Being stuck in my ways, I suppose. When I told Dennis I was still on Blogger, his literal response was to laugh and ask why.

Although there’s a pretty steep learning curve, I like WP much better, so here we are.

This blog won’t look like this forever. I just needed to get it up and running, so I’ll be implementing some changes over the coming weeks & months. (Like, for example, my Tags all came over as Categories. That won’t do at all.)

I will be implementing better tagging, better color and design, and hopefully, if I can figure it out, nutrition facts for each post. Exciting times ahead.

If you’re with me so far, thank you, and here is the story behind why you’re seeing Vegan Sloppy Joes on 1 January.

I should mention first that I hate when things are named things they are not. Like, for example, “Chickless” Chicken, or Vegan mayonnaise, or Vegan bacon. It irritates me.

I made an exception for this recipe, though.

I have, for the last 25+ years, thought I hated lentils. My grandparents used to make lentils & applesauce on New Year’s Day for some traditional reason.

(They also filled up a bathroom sink with water and put coins in it. You were supposed to wash your face with the coins to bring prosperity in the new year.)

Anyway, the lentils were gross. Grey, squishy…everything a kid would hate in a food. And they just didn’t taste very good. So for the entirety of my life, I thought that’s what lentils were.

I took a week a few months back and went Vegan. It was an interesting experiment, and I made some really good food. Most importantly, though, I decided to give lentils a chance.

And good Lord, am I glad I did.

These sandwiches (I am still reticent to call them Sloppy Joes) are delicious. They are also even better in subsequent leftover reheatings and are good after freezing.)

So happy New Year. Go eat these sandwiches and wash your face with some coins that have been who knows where. For prosperity’s sake!

Vegan Sloppy Joes

Serves 6
From Food52.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown or green lentils, soaked for a few hours and rinsed OR 1 package Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils (I used these.)
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 bell pepper (any color), diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• ¹/₂ tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. mustard powder
• 1 15-ounce can crushed, fire-roasted tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. real maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• Salt & pepper to taste
• ¹/₂ cup vegetable broth (Have more on-hand in case you need it.)
• 6 brioche or hamburger buns
• Toppings of choice (Hot sauce, onions, coleslaw, nutritional yeast, etc.)
  
  

1. If you’re not using pre-cooked lentils, place lentils in a large pot and cover with water. Bring the lentils to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are chewable. Drain the lentils and set aside. (If you’re using pre-cooked lentils, heat them through and set aside.)
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the onion and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, chili, paprika, and mustard and cook for another minute or two.
3. Mix in the lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and broth and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add more broth if needed. Simmer until the mixture has thickened to your desired thickness, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Remove the mixture from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
5. Divide the mixture onto the buns and add toppings of choice.