Sensitive New Age Sloppy Joes

It’s complicated. Somehow I only managed to menu plan this week through Wednesday. It came to the end-of-the-work day today, around 6:30PM, and I had the look of, “What’s for dinner?” I pulled some ground bison from the freezer and decided Sloppy Joes would be a perfect comfort food after a challenging work day. Later I learned how much my guys heart Sloppy Joes. They were high-fiving over it. Seriously. Mom was finally making “normal” food, until Craig saw me with the jalapeños, cumin, allspice, molasses (?!), apple cider. Certainly not Manwich. What the hell is that??

This is modified from a tofu recipe from Rebar, a vegetarian restaurant in Victoria, British Columbia, where we dined a number of years that even Craig REALLY liked. The problem was I had no tofu, but I had bison.

These are THE best Sloppy Joes I’ve ever made. Yes, campy, but with bold flavors, generously seasoned. With the additions of beans as specified in the original recipe, it would make a tasty chili. We served it with coleslaw and chips.

(In) Sensitive New Age Sloppy Joes - the Meat Version 

Serves 4

1 T vegetable oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

2 jalapeno peppers, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ancho chile powder

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 1/2 T molasses

2 chipotle peppers diced

1 teaspoon adobo sauce from the chipotles

1/2 cup tomato sauce ** I used leftover homemade pizza sauce, so I would season plain tomato sauce a bt

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tomatoes, chopped

4 whole wheat Kaiser buns

Heat oil in wide-bottomed pot. Sauté onion with 1 tsp salt until translucent. Add garlic, jalapenos, red pepper and sauté until vegetables soften. Add the bison and cook until no longer pink. Add the cumin, chile powder, and allspice. Sauté for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 30 minutes.

To serve, split Kaiser buns and generously ladle the Sloppy Joes over the bottom half of the bun. Replace the top and serve.

Make sure each serving is sufficiently SLOPPY and enjoy!