food week, day 3: supper (dinner)

Hey, it's that pantry picture again! There are some green lentils in that third jar, and that is the main ingredient in today's recipe. Speaking of lentils, something lovely came in today's mail...

My photo, published in Flavor (oooh, it's hard to spell that without a "u") magazine! I'm pretty tickled.

So, on to dinner! Lentil Sloppy Joes it is! I love this dinner (I guess I use both 'supper' and 'dinner') because it's super easy, quick, healthy, and the flavour of the dish is much more than the sum of it parts. Having the lentils done up beforehand is key. It's a crockpot recipe, so you come home to an amazing-smelling kitchen, too. I copied the recipe from a library book, and now I've forgotten the name of the book. It's something about vegetarian slow cooker recipes. Here it is:

Lentil Sloppy Joes

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I use olive)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup water (I use a lot more (probably 1 1/2 cups) - it tends to burn with too little water)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cups cooked brown or green lentils, drained and rinsed
hot pepper sauce (optional)
toasted hamburger buns

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and cook, stirring for one minute. Stir in ketchup, water, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Add lentils and stir well.

2. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours, until hot and bubbling. Add hot pepper sauce to taste, if using. Ladle over hot toasted buns and serve immediately.

Enjoy!