Friday, November 16, 2007

Fabu-less-mess Friday Night Bite

I have always loved Sloppy Joes, but the canned mix conjures up images of lunch lines and lunch ladies. Remember that Adam Sandler song about the lunch lady, “Sloppy Joe, slop, Sloppy Joe…?”

Below is a recipe that I adapted from Rachael Ray that is super easy, healthier, all natural and uses less sugar. I even noted an alteration that uses cooked sweet potato to further pump up the nutrition.

As I was preparing to make this recently, I was shopping at Trader Joe’s for hamburger buns and they only had hotdog buns. Then I had a “why didn’t I think of this before?” moment, and bought the hotdog buns. Voila! The mix stays in the bun: healthier, tastier and less messy Joes. Everyone is happy. What a great way to start the weekend.

Less-Sloppy Joe’s (or as my brother used to call them Not-Neat-Josephs)
1 pound 92% lean ground beef, or ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and diced
1 t chili powder
½ t garlic powder
¼ t cayenne pepper
¼ t salt and pepper
3 T brown sugar –OR- ¼ - ½ c pureed sweet potato and 1 T brown sugar
1 T worcestershire sauce
1T red wine vinegar
2- 8oz cans tomato sauce –OR- 1 15oz can diced tomatoes with chilis, pureed
Whole wheat hot dog buns

Roast the red pepper (cut in half, remove seeds and veins, flatten and place under broiler until skin is blackened) and wrap in foil. In a medium sauce pan, brown the beef or turkey with the onion. Once cooked, drain any excess fat. Peel and dice the red pepper. Add all remaining ingredients to the sauce pan *except* the buns. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Serve in hot dog buns.

3 comments:

Deep in the Heart said...

I've made this recipe before and it's yum-o. You can definitely just cut back on the sugar; it was a little sweet for my liking. Great idea on the hot dog buns though!

Renee said...

I made this again last night. It is always well liked at my house. I think it is my favorite sloppy joe recipe.

PaigeM said...

Hi SP,
I'm planning on making the lasagna this week. I have a question about roasting the red pepper and the step with the foil. Do you roast the red pepper in foil?

Thanks!
--P