Sloppy Joes, the Lentil Edition

Lentil Sloppy Joes: a Calypso fan favorite

We’re not vegetarians, but the lack of a freezer and very small fridge means that we often eat like we are. Beans are a great source of protein and, when you’re talking about dried ones, are extremely boat-friendly in terms of storage space.

In the last couple of days, we’ve run the gamut of the beans we have on board, making things like doubles (part of our Thanksgiving potluck), black bean and pumpkin tacos, red lentil soup for lunch, and, for tomorrow night, we’ll do sloppy joes, the lentil edition.

Lentils come in multiple varieties. There are the fall-apart-into-almost-cream red lentils. The ubiquitous (even in the smallest magasin in the Tuamotus!) brown lentils. And then there are the small ones that hold their shape when cooked - black lentils, Lentils du Puy, and pardina lentils. (I’m sure there are many, many other varieties - these are the ones I’m familiar with.)

All of these have a place on the boat. Each serves a different purpose (other than just being delicious and easy to prepare.) Today’s post is about the last ones - the ones that hold their shape.

(I was hoping to be able to find the French version of these, lentils du puy, easily in French Polynesia. Not so far. Maybe when we get to Tahiti. So far though? I’ve been VERY thankful I stocked up on my pardinas before we left Panama!)

The joy with the “hold their shape” lentils is that they’re generally smaller with a robust flavor - but that shape holding magic means they’re a fairly good stand in texture-wise for ground beef. And I don’t know about you, but a large part of what I love about a good spaghetti sauce, or chili, or sloppy joes is the texture. Sure, we could carry TVP (texturized vegetable protein) to even more closely mimic that mouthfeel, but when I can buy these lentils for a cheaper price and the ingredient list is far simpler? Sign me up!

Here’s the recipe I riff off. It’s well loved aboard, within my family, and even by skeptical bean haters. My favorite story around this dish is when I was cooking for a crowd of about 40 people up at the lake house, with a seating for kids and a different one for adults. A friend wandered into the kitchen to ask what I was making. “Sloppy joes.” He watched me pour lentils into the pan and shook his head. “My kids won’t eat that,” he said. “They hate beans.” I just smiled and kept on cooking.

Later, his daughter came in to ask for seconds. “This chili is so amazing!”

Okay, not quite chili. But the texture fooled even that picky eater.

You can, of course, make this with ground beef or ground turkey. It’s still delicious.

Recipe for sloppy joes:

2-3 cups cooked pardina lentils, or lentils du Puy, or beluga lentils, or black lentils. The ones that hold their shape! (Or 1 lb+ ground beef or turkey)
1 TBS vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, minced fine
2 red or yellow peppers, diced
1 zucchini, cut into small dice
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 cups spaghetti sauce (from a jar works fine!) or Pomi crushed tomatoes
¼ c BBQ sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 cups frozen corn (or 1 can of corn)

In a large saute pan, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until they start to get soft. Stir in the peppers and cook for an additional couple of minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to distribute evenly, and cook for 1 minute (or until you can smell it . . . mmm)

Pour in the spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.

Pour in the lentils. Stir. Add in the corn.

Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Taste to adjust salt/pepper needs; if you like a looser sauce you’ll want to add more liquid of some sort. You might want it spicier too!

Serve on top of toasted English muffins, or on baked potatoes, or toasted hamburger buns!