Sloppy Joe recipe so complete and filling, you'll never miss the meat. (And you don't need tofu!)
Ingredients
2 large carrots, cleaned and peeled
2-3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1 green bell pepper, seeds and stem removed
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce 15-16 oz
2 tablespoons tomato paste
15-16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
8 oz mushrooms, cleaned
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
⅓ teaspoon cayanne pepper (to taste)
buns
Instructions
Either with a sharp knife or in a food processor, chop the carrots, celery, pepper, and onion together to a small mince.
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the carrot, celery, pepper and onion mixture.
Cook down a few minutes stirring occasionally until softened.
Add the garlic and cook another minute or two.
Lower the heat to medium and add the salt, pepper, spices, brown sugar, tomato sauce and tomato paste.
Cover and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
While the sauce is cooking down, chop the kidney beans.
Check for seasoning.
Add the chopped kidney beans to the base, cover and cook another 2-3 minutes. Long enough to heat the beans, but not cause them to break down.
Mince the mushrooms.
Remove cover and stir in the mushrooms, lowering the heat if needed to prevent sticking.
Stir in the mushrooms and cook a few minutes more, until the Sloppy Joe's has the thin or thick consistency as preferred.
Serve on toasted buns.
Notes
The key to this recipe is making sure you have the veggies, beans and mushrooms chopped as fine as a ground meat for a better texture and even cooking.
Don't overdo it on the spices, as it they will open up the more you cook the Sloppy Joes.
Recipe by sarah sprague at https://sarahsprague.com/2011/12/02/veggie-sloppy-joes-football-foodie/