Black Bean Sloppy Joes

Violins, please...I never had Sloppy Joes as a kid. It just wasn't one of the five dishes in my mother's repertoire. (Poor me.) So it wasn't until after I graduated high school and was living away from home that I discovered this saucy sandwich. It was love at first bite!

Now I realize that I've kind of been living under a rock for the last ten years—that's when The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook was first published. But what a wonderful surprise for me to find within its pages a naturally low-fat vegan recipe that closely mimics the sassy flavors I remember so fondly. It made me fall in love with Sloppy Joes all over again.


(Notice the cute jungle motif plate? I couldn't resist buying it when I found it at one a local thrift shop!)

While I don't usually reprint recipes from other people's cookbooks unless I either have the author's permission or have found the recipe online elsewhere, this recipe is already posted on at least a dozen other websites. So I hope you'll try it (if you haven't already, because unlike me, you don't live under a rock!) It's a very tasty quick-and-easy-to-prepare dish that both kids and adults will have fun eating.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1/3 cup water
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 T yellow mustard
1 teaspoon agave nectar (original recipe called for honey)
1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

Place onion and pepper in a saucepan with water. Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

Mash beans with a bean or potato masher (do not use a food processor). Add the beans and remaining ingredients to the saucepan, and cook over low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve on toasted whole wheat buns.