Lean and lovely Sloppy Joes

A super easy, family-friendly meal!

I don’t know about you, but I’m really not a fan of ketchup, except with burgers, hot dogs or French fries. Its overly-sweet taste seems to overwhelm anything to which it’s added and in addition to all that sugar, I don’t love that it’s full of salt. Many Sloppy Joe recipes call for a whole lot of ketchup, but not mine. I also chose to swap out the ground beef for chicken or turkey and that proved to be a delicious change. I like to serve Sloppy Joes the traditional way, with the meat spooned over split, soft rolls (regular or gluten-free) but you can also serve the filling up on lettuce leaves, for a low-carb version. Make a double or triple batch and portion it out for the freezer so you’ll have some super-fast weekday meals already prepared the next time it’s one of THOSE days. You know the ones.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive or canola oil
• 1 pound (454 g) lean ground chicken or turkey
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) diced onion
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) diced green pepper
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) minced garlic
• 1 cup (250 mL) water, divided
• 1/3 cup (90 mL) tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons (60 mL) cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) Dijon
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) Worcestershire
• 1/8 teaspoon (.6 mL) allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) molasses or maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon (.6 mL) cayenne, or more, to taste

Method

• Place oil then ground chicken or turkey in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until meat is beginning to brown (about 10 minutes). Use the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to break the meat up into small bits.
• Add onion, green pepper and garlic; sauté until softened, 2 – 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and stir well, scraping up any cooked bits from the bottom and edges of pan.
• Add tomato paste, vinegar, Dijon, Worcestershire, allspice, salt, pepper, molasses and cayenne. Stir to blend well.
• Cook, uncovered, over low heat, for 20 minutes, stirring often. Add additional water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to keep mixture from drying it out. You want a good amount of sauce to coat the meat.
• Taste and adjust seasonings to suit your preference. Spoon hot meat over buns to serve.
• Can be refrigerated and reheated in a pot or in the microwave; freezes really well also.

Serves 4.