As the days have grown shorter and the nights colder, the warm comfort food meals have become more frequent. No one’s complaining here, though, and I wanted to share my take on lentil sloppy joes. They’re pretty tasty, if I’m allowed to say so.

Ingredients:

1 C. dry lentils

1 t. ground cumin

½ t. ground mustard

¼ t. ground coriander

¼ t. paprika

½ t. ground black pepper

½ t. or more salt (to taste)

6 T. (3 oz.) tomato paste

1 medium onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 T. olive oil

4-6 dashes liquid smoke

2-3 T. liquid aminos or soy sauce

1 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. brown sugar

2 T. nutritional yeast

1 C. vegetable stock (recipe here) or water

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 30-40 min

Yield: 4-6 servings, ~4 C.

-Rinse lentils thoroughly in a strainer.

-Fill a stock pot with water and add lentils; cook on medium-high heat for ~20 min or until lentils are softened but not mushy.

-Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add cumin, coriander, mustard, paprika, pepper and salt; brown spices, 2-3 min, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon regularly.

-Add olive oil and chopped onions, and sauté until translucent.

-Add celery and carrot, stirring evenly to coat.

-Add lentils and remaining ingredients; stir to combine and let simmer uncovered on medium/low-medium heat for ~20 min. Stir occasionally as the liquid cooks down and the veggies soften. Taste to see if you’d like more salt or liquid smoke. It’s pretty hard to go wrong once everything is simmering, so play around a little (just save some room for dinner).

Meghan particularly likes this recipe paired with homemade cashew cream mac & cheese, and we’ve also had it over mashed potatoes and on burger buns. The sky’s the limit!