Happy Memorial Day Week!

I think that this should be a holiday.

In honor of Memorial Day week, I thought I would share with you the lone survivor from our Memorial Day party.

And by lone survivor, I mean the only food that was leftover. And I think it will be a sleeper hit. You see, the crowd at the party was not very familiar with the world of Badger Girl cuisine and when I described this dish, I made the mistake of using the V-word.

Vegan.

And that scared off the meat-eaters. They were a little hedgy about the quinoa salad and the fact that my sloppy joes had way more veggies in them than meat.

Quinoa Salad

They were thrown off that I had more lettuce leaves than buns.

I didn’t even tell them that the cupcakes at the cupcake bar were mostly gluten-free and the party favorite, chocolate, was vegan as well.

Cupcake Bar

So, it’s not surprising they passed by the self-proclaimed vegan entree. And to be honest, Manatee and I are thrilled. This means we have a whole batch of Sloppy Vinnies all to ourselves.

Sloppy Vinnies

homemade vegan sloppy joes 

1 tablespoon oil
1 can of kidney beans, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 bunch of celery, diced
4-5 carrots, diced
1/2 cup water
 ketchup, yellow mustard, and brown sugar

  1. In a large pan, add oil and saute peppers, onion, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent.
  2. Add black beans, kidney beans, and tomatoes. Heat until warmed through.
  3. The ratio for the sauce is 1 part brown sugar to 2 parts mustard and 3 parts ketchup. There are no measurements for this sauce. It’s really best if you taste as you go. I would start with a few tablespoons of brown sugar to about 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/4 cup of mustard. Then keep tasting and adding as you go. My favorite version of the sauce has a hint of sweetness balanced with rich tomato from the ketchup and a slight tang from the mustard.
  4. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat.

Recipe Review:

I am not joking when I say that Manatee and I are thrilled that this was leftover. This is a green eggs and ham type of dish.

We will eat it on chips, we will eat as a dip. We will eat in a lettuce wrap, we will eat in a snap. On salads, on eggs, with cucumbers, while standing on one leg. We will eat it here and there, we will eat it everywhere!

vegan sloppy joes, sloppy vinnies

I dare say I may even like it better than the meat version.

It’s the best of both worlds: the tangy sauce that I grew up with mixed with tons of great veggies and fiber from the beans.

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How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Eat anything yummy? Do anything fun?


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