I think we need a little something for the amazing vegans out there. It's solar cooking week and this is one of my favorite vegan recipes. It's so family friendly and amazingly inexpensive. It serves 10 easily. Which means for me, I have one meal and freeze half for later. It is one of my favorite freezer meals. It's fat free and full of wonderful protein. Great for the body and mind. The secret...lentils.
This recipe works so perfectly in the solar oven it's almost scary. However, if you don't have a solar oven it is also perfect in the crock pot. You will need:
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 lb of lentils (preferably soaked overnight, but if not add 1 hour to the cooking time)
2 cup chopped onion
2 T honey
2T spicy mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
2 14 oz cans vegetable stock (or 4 cups homemade)
1 15 oz can prepared vegan sloppy Joe sauce
8 - 10 whole wheat hamburger or French style rolls, split and toasted.
Combine everything except the sloppy Joe sauce in a large dark crock. I have one from the Pampered Chef that works perfectly, but if you use a smaller pot, half the recipe.
Combine everything except the sloppy Joe sauce in a large dark crock. I have one from the Pampered Chef that works perfectly, but if you use a smaller pot, half the recipe.
Mix it all up and bake in full sun in the solar oven 2-3 hours. While mine was baking, I mixed the dough for the rolls and made the coleslaw. If you use a crock pot (4 quart size), cover and cook on high heat setting 3-3 and 1/2 hours. 
Once the lentils are tender, mix in the sloppy Joe sauce.
I used the overnight started bread. Half the dough I made into buns. Half I made into a loaf of bread. However, I must admit, that the solar oven isn't quite big enough for the buns to turn out round. Usually they are little triangle buns. Still delicious, whole grain, and vegan. The secret is to form the rolls and immediately put them in the solar oven.
The final rise in the oven while it heats up makes perfect rolls.
The oven is right at 200 degrees. It will be just right for baking in about 30 minutes, and the rolls will be light and fluffy.
Bake 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.
Mmm.
Serve with coleslaw or side of your choice. May I suggest the vegan Cuban Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Pineapple an...
There you go. Vegans rejoice!
Any advice on making the vegan sloppy joe sauce, for people who don't live somewhere where they can buy it? (I have an idea of how to make it, as I've made regular sloppy joe sauce, but I'd like to know if the vegan one is altered.)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to me that you make the bread from scratch but not the sauce...I will always choose to make the sauces from scratch, but breads only 1/3 of the time. I guess everyone takes shortcuts in different places.
Yes, the original recipe didn't even use sloppy joe sauce, just a 2 cups tomato paste and 1/4 cup vinegar. I have an all natural sloppy joe sauce that has some smoke flavor to it that adds a lot of flavor. I agree. I am a little weird for not making the sloppy joe sauce. I have a great recipe for it, but this one I wanted to be a little more user friendly. Thanks for your great comment.
ReplyDeleteTess,
ReplyDeleteI thought you had the Sport Solar Oven, but from one of the pictures in this post it doesn't look like it. Which oven do you have?
Our solar oven meeting today went well. You should have some new visitors to your blog.
Oh I'm so excited to hear things went well! My solar is oven is a Global. I have a link to their website from here if you want to check them out. I love it!
ReplyDeleteLove that you prepared this meal in a solar oven! I am a big solar oven cooking fan myself -- food just tastes better that way.
ReplyDelete