Snobby Joes?

Have you ever heard of Snobby Joes? Sloppy Joes more snooty relative?  I saw a friend post this cooking concept on Facebook and had to try.  When making Snobby Joes you sub the meat for lentils.  Now, I don't think these taste like Sloppy Joes, but they do resemble the texture and look.  This recipe is ridiculously low in points plus (pp), and because of that, you could put it on any bread of your choosing to make a tasty meal.  The pp below only include the Snobby Joe part, so remember to add extra points for your choice of bread and toppings (in this case I topped with 2 T. reduced fat cheddar for an extra 1 pp, and light bread for 1pp per slice)

In case you don't know a lot about lentils, they are extremely filling which is why I made the serving size 1/2 cup (or enough for two open faced Snobby Joes).  Also, if you haven't seen this clip from Billy Madison, I suggest you watch it immediately.

Servings: 10

Size: 1/2 cup

Points Plus: 2pp

Level of Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked lentils, rinsed

4 cups water

1 T. olive oil

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 T. chili powder

2 t. oregano

1 t. Kosher salt

2 cup tomato sauce*

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 T. maple syrup

1 T. yellow mustard

Directions:

Place uncooked lentils and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer 20 minutes.  Drain and put back into pan.

Preheat oil in medium saucepan sautee onion and pepper about 8 minutes.  Add minced garlic during last minute of sautee. Add veggie mixture to lentils.

Add chili powder, oregano, salt, tomato sauce and tomato paste to lentils and veggies.  Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Add maple syrup and mustard and heat through. 

Turn off heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes.

Tip:

How many times have you opened a can of tomato paste just to toss the leftovers?  I mean, I don't think a recipe exists that calls for a whole can of tomato paste (ok maybe some chillis but you catch my drift). Have you ever seen THIS! It's tubed tomato paste, with a little cap that you can put on to SAVE the paste for it's next use.  I personally think the tubed paste is of higher quality than the can and tastes better. Check it out the next time you are grocery shopping.

*CONFESSION: After making this recipe, writing this post, cleaning up the kitchen and looking back I realized that I accidentally used marinara sauce instead of tomato sauce! Everything above is with tomato sauce, and I think they would taste more like Sloppy Joes if you did.  Try it out and let us know what you think!