Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joe Lettuce Wraps

While it seems like all I’ve posted for the last month is chicken recipes, I actually try to eat vegetarian dinners at least one or two nights a week. It’s healthy and cheap – the double whammy.

Lentils, beans and eggs are huge staples for these vegetarian nights.

The best lentil dish I’ve ever tasted is “Lentils Like Baked Beans” from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts, a souvenir I brought back from Montreal last summer.

Eating at Joe Beef was an experience – we ate so many unique and delicious things, including eel nuggets, a sweetbread and lobster dish, and a dessert that was supposed to look like a baked potato but was really a combination of crunchy meringue and melted chocolate.

The lentils are simmered until they are tender, all the while being flavored with sweetness from brown sugar and tomato sauce, acidity from apple cider vinegar, saltiness from Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of kick from cayenne pepper and yellow mustard.

Serve the lentils in crisp, cool lettuce leaves (I also like lettuce wraps for my chicken sloppy joes), on their own, or topped with a poached egg.

 

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Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joe Lettuce Wraps

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked through
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8 large iceburg lettuce leaves

Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven or large saucepot with lid, heat oil over medium heat. Add bell pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until softened, stirring frequently. Add garlic, shallot and tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients, except lettuce. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 to 35 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.
3. Serve lentils wrapped in lettuce leaves.

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