Do you ever do that thing where you improvise a dish, it turns out really well, and then you can't remember quite what you did? I made sloppy joes tonight and Joe loved them. I am recording the recipe here instead of scratching my head the next time I'm in the mood for sloppy joes.
I browned an onion with 1.5 lbs of ground turkey. I also threw in 4 cloves of chopped garlic and a handful of grated carrots. The carrots are not traditional, but I like the sweet earthiness they add. (I would have put in a diced rib of celery if we'd had any in the fridge, but we're out. (At least I think we're out. Elwood is the person in this marriage who finds things in the bowels of the fridge. It's possible that there's an entire celery farm in there, but if so it was invisible to me.))
When the meat was no longer pink, I added a 14.5-oz. can of crushed tomatoes, a little can of green chiles, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a healthy shake of Worcestershire sauce. I had every intention of adding black pepper before I left it to simmer, but I did not. I did not let it simmer for very long, because we were hungry. But I did toast the buns, which amps up their flavor and their texture enough to be worth doing even when people are hungry.
Joe was not delighted when I announced that I was making sloppy joes, but then he ate three of them and declared them awesome. He prefers my less-sweet version to run-of-the-mill sloppy joes, some of which could be renamed "ground beef with caramel sauce." So if perhaps you're looking for a dinner recipe that's quick, tasty, frugal, and filling, here you go.
Recent Comments