Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

They might even be vegan...I'm not sure how most/all vegans consider sugar. Some specifically use agave nectar and the like. I guess about half of the white sugar produced in the US is cane sugar (vs. beet sugar), and is often filtered through bone char. So they avoid it just in case.

For those of you who grew up on ground beef and Manwich (like I did), well, this isn't exactly a substitute. It is, however, a really tasty BBQ-style vegetarian sandwich. I surfed the web for vegetarian sloppy joe recipes. Most of them called for TVP. Some that called for lentils and vegetables also called for jarred BBQ sauce. I decided to pick and choose and make my own recipe. I don't have BBQ sauce, but I do have ketchup!

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes
1/2 c. dry black lentils (used them up! I hope green lentils work too): 0.50
1/2 c. dry brown rice: 0.21
1/2 onion, diced: 0.21
1 carrot, diced: 0.10
1 celery stalk, diced: 0.10
1 c ketchup: 0.50
3 T brown sugar: 0.05
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar: 0.06
2 tsp. dijon: 0.08
1/2 tsp chili powder: 0.02
salt, pepper to taste: 0.02
Total: $1.70 for 6 servings ($0.28 each)

Cook lentils and rice separately. Drain and toss together.

Saute onion, carrot, and celery in a bit of oil until soft. Stir in lentils and rice and warm.

In separate saucepan, mix ketchup through salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 min.

Add lentil and vegetable mixture to sauce. Spoon over buns.

The buns were $0.12 each. So that' $0.40 per sandwich. (0.49 if you add cheese)

No pictures. We ate them for dinner and lunch. I had extra lentils and rice (unmixed with the sauce) that we used last night for burritos.