One of our favorite, quickest, and easiest meals is the Vegetarian Sloppy Joe. We cheat and use Simply Organic sloppy joe mix instead of making the sloppy joe flavor from scratch, but remember, this is so we can have a quick, easy meal on a night we might otherwise just give in and go out to eat!

Here's the process:

1. Sort and rinse a pound bag of brown lentils. Put them in a pot with water, heat to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes or until mostly soft. (Make sure you check after 10 minutes or so to make sure that you don't run out of water in your pot.) Once the lentils are basically finished, strain the water from the lentils and return the lentils to the pot.


2. Pour the sloppy joe mix into 1/4 cup water and stir until well blended.


3. Add your seasoning liquid plus several tablespoonfuls of tomato paste to your lentils and let simmer for another 10 or 15 minutes or until most of the water is boiled out, stirring occasionally.


4. Serve on hamburger buns or regular bread. Add sliced cheddar cheese, slices of white onion or pickles as a condiment to the sandwiches. Serve with a few chips or a pickle on the side for a nice crunchy contrast.

This makes enough for 6 servings with plenty left over for freezing for even quicker (how is that possible!) meals.