Snobby Joes

This is a vegan recipe for Sloppy Joes out of my vegan cookbook, "Veganomicon."  The recipe lacks a little bit of texture, which my sister brilliantly remedied by adding some of our leftover Cracked Wheat from breakfast that morning. So for those of you who love to have one meal work for two, make cracked wheat for breakfast, then add the leftovers to your snobby joes that night (and feel free to freeze the leftover snobby joes for later use!) 

1 cup uncooked lentils (we used red lentils, because we happened to have a ton)

4 cups water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp chili powder2 tsp dried Oregano

1 tsp salt

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/4 cup tomato paste

2-3 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard

4-6 buns

pour lentils and water in a small saucepan. Cover, bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until lentils are soft. Drain and set aside.

about 10 minutes before lentils are done, preheat a medium-sized saucepan over meium heat. Saute the onion and pepper in the oil for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and saute for a minute more.

Stir in the cooked lentils, chili powder, oregano, and salt. Add tomato sauce and paste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup to taste and the mustard and heat through.

Turn off heat and let the pot sit for about 10 minutes, so that the flavors can meld, or go ahead and serve immediately if you can't wait. 

note: add the cracked wheat at the very end, if you decide to do that.