Tidy joes (vegan sloppy joes)

I’m really not a fan of American food; in fact, I list it in the sidebar at right as one of my hates. This makes Urban Vegan’s sloppy joes recipe very special indeed—it appealed to even me! Once I removed the offensive barbeque sauce, at least. (I live in the BBQ capital of the country, and yet I can think of no smell, save sauerkraut, that repels me more.) The one thing that gave me pause about these sloppy joes was that mine turned out to be not at all sloppy, so I have renamed these tidy joes—they won’t make a mess of your plate or your health!

2 Tbsp canola oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
1 scant Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
4 whole grain hamburger buns



Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent...



...then add the garlic and red pepper and sauté for an additional minute.



Add the tomato sauce, TVP, chili powder, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar and turn the heat to low. Stir well, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the TVP and red pepper are soft. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.



A toasted whole grain bun was the perfect vehicle for this, but it would be great over brown rice too. I actually just ate the leftovers with a spoon, and loved it. These tidy joes have just the right amount of tang from the tomato sauce and vinegar, tempered nicely by the sweetness of the onion and pepper and the dab of brown sugar. A couple generous dashes of Tabasco rounds out all the flavors, making these truly above-average joes.



Yield: 4 servings. Per serving (without bun): 260 calories, 7.4g fat (.5g sat), 28.7g carbs, 9g fiber, 20.9g protein.

More Urban Vegan recipes...
Black olive tapenade
Whole grain rosemary-olive bread
Cauliflower-chickpea tagine