Thai Sloppy Joes

So this dinner pretty much put two of my favourite things together. 1) lentil sloppy joes - I've already written about those here, and 2) thai flavours. I took the recipe from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine, substituting the beef with lentils. Note on the link: I couldn't direct link to the recipe, so you'll have to look up the Summer 2012 issue and scroll through. Don't ask me why.

For the lentils, I boiled 1.5 cups in 4 cups of water for about 20 min. Then in a large pan, I got started on the sauce. I threw in one chopped onion, 3 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 jalapeno, and 1-2 Tbsp Thai green curry paste and let them cook for a few minutes. Then I added in a can of diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup ketchup and 1/4 cup cilantro, and cooked about 5 more minutes. Time to add 1 Tbsp lime juice to finish it up.

I was a bit worried because it wasn't very saucy - I used green lentils so it didn't really have the same mushy consistency as when I use red lentils. It also wasn't very spicy, so I added in red pepper flakes and grated in lots of ginger for more flavour. I was also looking forward to making an Asian slaw to put on top, unlike my other sloppy joes. The dressing consisted of 3 Tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp lime zest, 1 Tbsp each lime juice and sesame oil, 1/2 tsp each soy sauce and sugar, 3 sliced green onions and some cilantro, mixed with coleslaw mix from a bag - normally I avoid these bagged salads but the coleslaw one is cheap and with a tangy Asian-inspired dressing like this one, I went through the bag in a few days.

Finish by putting big spoonfuls of delicious, thai-flavoured lentil mixture onto toasted buns and top with the zippy Asian slaw. I didn't even attempt to eat this as an actual sandwich. It was really tasty but I wanted even more flavour from the lentil mix - more spiciness, more ginger or thai paste. I'll double everything next time and see where that takes me. If anything it's a good way to get lentils and cabbage in your diet!