Unsloppy Joes

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted a recipe. I have recently started going back to the gym and well my energy has not caught up to me yet. So in the spirit of working out I thought I would add a recipe that I made this past week. Now it doesn't replace a good ol' Manwich sloppy joe but it does do the trick.  Plus, there's that added bonus of veggies. You can mess around with the recipe and add your own vegetables and spices to it. This is the basic recipe that I got from allrecipes.com and I use it very frequently for a good vegetarian alternative. I always use the basic recipe and sometimes add jalapenos or different spices depending on my mood that day. You do not need to follow the recipe exactly. I tend to add a whole onion and bell pepper, a large carrot, skip the celery, and then adjust the spices and vinegar at the end to get it to taste the way I want. I also started using dried beans as apposed to canned beans. They are really inexpensive and not as hard to cook as I thought they would be. If you decide to try dried beans I suggest soaking a cup of beans in a pot full of water overnight and following the directions on the package for cooking the beans the next day. They generally take an hour to cook.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 rolls

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, and garlic: saute until tender. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder, tomato paste, vinegar, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
2. Stir in kidney beans, and cook an additional 5 minutes.
3. Cut a 1/4 inch slice off the top of each kaiser roll; set aside. Hollow out the center of each roll, leaving about 1/2 inch thick shells; reserve the inside of rolls for other uses.
4. Spoon bean mixture evenly into rolls and replace tops. Serve immediately.