Sloppy Joes

      Years ago, when I was just starting out in the Mom Cooking world, I was always on the lookout for ways to sneak more veggies into Punky's diet.  Bell peppers were a particular sticking point for me.  I love peppers and put them in darn near everything and Punky insisted that she hated them though she had had next to no experience with them since MacGvyer wasn't big on peppers.

      I know from my background in Anthropology that human tastes change and develop according to exposure.  When a person tries an unfamiliar food a number of times in most cases, that person will develop a taste for that food and begin to like it.  That is why pediatricians recommend having a child try any veggie at least 15 times before giving up on it (the accepted threshold for number of tastes required to develop an affinity for a particular food had always been 14).  Recent research has even indicated that the more new and different foods a person tries, the more quickly one adapts a taste for them.  I am a prime example of this.  I will try any really nutritious food over a few times, even if I don't like it, and it typically only takes me a few tries to develop a taste.  Similarly, after years of living with my cooking experimental ways, Punky is also much more willing, and even excited, to try new things and often takes a liking to them very quickly.

      So I was on a mission to encorporate peppers into as many meals as I could, but they had to be hidden.  Just like MacGvyer and I, Punky can be very bullheaded when she wants to be, and at the time she was only 4.  I don't care what anyone says; there is no reasoning with a 4 year old.

      I don't remember how I found out that Sloppy Joes had peppers in them, but I do know I was surprised as heck to find it out.  I guess I had never watched my mom make them growing up.  I was chatting with NotDonna about my discovery, and she already knew (heck, she may have been the one who told me).  She said that her mom, MMom, had a great sloppy joe recipe, so I called her up to get it (or maybe NotDonna called?  Either way, I got MMom's Sloppy Joe Recipe).

      I was thrilled to find out that not only did it include peppers, they were basically the main componant.  And, ultimately, this was the recipe that won Punky over on peppers.  To this day, she loves my Sloppy Joes.

      After getting Happy Herbivore, my favorite cookbook, I tried making these with Tempah instead of ground up animals, and I was thrilled with the results.  It is almost impossible to even tell the difference, and Tempah is sooooo good for you.  If anyone is trying this recipe, I implore you to try it with the Tempah.  Its so much better for you, and the result is amazing.  If you've never heard of tempah, it is a soybean product but one with a completely different texture and nutritional profile than tofu.  It's very nutritious and good for your digestion.  And, as I said, it works perfectly in this recipe.  There is also a sauce recipe in Happy Herbivore, but I perfer the recipe I got from MMom, below.

Basic Ingredients:
Two 8oz pkgs Tempah (which you can find in most any grocery store)
One Medium Onion
2 large or 3 smallish bell peppers, at least one red
Garlic
Organic Ketchup (without high fructose corn syrup - important),
Yellow Mustard
Worshtershire and/or Soy sauce
Pepper, to taste
Optional: TBLSp brown sugar

      Add enough water to a pot to submerge the tempah.  Add a couple of shakes of soy sauce and bring to a boil.  Boil the tempah for 10 minutes.  In the meantime:

      Finely dice the onions and set aside for at least 5 minutes to maximize nutritional potential.  Finely dice bell peppers.  Lightly sautee the peppers and onion with the garlic (adjust according to your own taste).  You can either sautee in a little water or a bit of grapeseed oil.

      If you're "hiding" the veggies, puree the onions and peppers in a food processor or blender and return to the pan.  Otherwise, just leave them in the pan and go on the the next step.  I haven't had to puree the peppers into the sauce for years.

      Next, add the ketchup.  You can adjust the amount per your taste, but you'll need a lot of ketchup since it's the base of the sauce.  That is also why it's important to get a ketchup without HFCS in it (most organic ketchups are HFCS free), you're using a lot of it and that much HFCS is gross and makes the sauce way too sweet.  I would say you're going to want to start with at least a cup of ketchup.

      Stir in a couple tablespoons of yellow mustard and a couple dashes of soy and/or worchestershire sauce.  Cook on medium/low heat, stirring continually, adjusting ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper as necessary to taste.  Add a tablespoon of brown sugar or a dash of cinamon if desired.

      Once the sauce is heated through and at the taste you want, leave it on just enough heat to keep it warm.  After boiling for 10 minutes, drain the tempah and grate it into the desired texture, usually about the size of rice grains, maybe a little bigger.  If you're grating by hand, run the tempah under some cold water to keep from burning yourself.

      Stir the grated tempah into the sauce, "slop" onto some whole wheat buns, and enjoy!

      Please let me know if you try this recipe!  It is definitely a favorite in our house.  Heck, I just made it last night.