Sloppy lentils

Once a month, my friend, E, hosts Sacred Singing at her house. It is a wonderful gathering to sing sacred songs and to break bread together. It was at Sacred Singing that I was introduced to E's Sloppy Lentils.

I have very fond childhood memories of Mrs. Kasuga's Sloppy Joe's. I don't remember anyone else ever making them for me...maybe my mom once or twice. If I close my eyes, the memory of her Sloppy Joe's are multi-sensory. I loved them.

I think my kids would probably like Sloppy Joe's. They love the meat sauce I make for spaghetti, which is made with ground meat. But, because I have yet to venture into baking burger buns, Sloppy Joe's hadn't entered my mind.

These Sloppy Lentils are so good, they have me seriously pursuing the baking of burger buns. I came close to making them today, but I'm in the midst of a lot of cooking and just didn't have the energy and time.

So, tonight, we will enjoy the lentils over rice. This batch came out quite salty. I'm not sure why, though I am certain the fault lies with me and my 'eyeballing' style of cooking :-)

E's Sloppy Lentils

(...as modified from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook...with some tweaks by me)

2 Tbsp safflower oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes (I prefer Muir Glen fire roasted
tomatoes for the extra smokiness)
5 cups water
2 Tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
3-4 Tbsp honey mustard (if I don't have any around, I just put in 2
Tbsp honey and 2 additional Tbsp prepared mustard)
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet (I use the saucier, but sometimes
resort to a soup pot) over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and
cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, stirring
to coat.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, turn up the heat until it comes to
a boil, then turn it down to a lively simmer and cover it. It takes a
solid two hours to cook, sometimes longer. Check it every half hour
to stir and make sure it has enough water.


I've adjusted the amount of cooking time and water to make this with
navy beans or kidney beans, too -- not quite as perfect to pile into a
crusty roll when I use the larger beans, but still quite tasty. With
the beans it takes at least an extra hour cooking time, and additions
of water for the last hour or hour and a half.