SLOPPY JOES W/ pureed pumpkin. *OPTIONAL VEGETARIAN VERSION

*Adaptation from "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook

**FREEZER FRIENDLY** 

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp EVOO
1 cup chopped red or yellow onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 cloves of garlic (or a couple of tbsp)
1 1/2 lb of lean ground turkey or beef, COOKED.
1 cup of sweet potato or pumpkin puree
1 cup of red pepper puree
1/2 cup of carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups of broth, beef or chicken
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of sea salt
1/4 tsp of pepper


DIRECTIONS:

1.  Pour EVOO in large skillet.  Add onion, celery and garlic and cook until onion is tender (not brown).

2.  Add tofu.  Break it up w/ a fork into tiny pices.  Cook for several minutes.  Add browned beef/turkey.

3.  Add vegetable puree's, raw carrots, broth, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1 half...15 minutes or so.

Serve on whole wheat buns.  Enjoy!  (have extra?  toss into a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use)

Onion & celery (I add the garlic after a couple of minutes)

While the onion/celery is cooking, start making the red pepper puree.

Looking good!  Time to add garlic

If garlic is cooked too long it can taste bitter, so I usually let my onion cook a couple of minutes before adding it.

TOFU!  I heart you.

Break it up into small pieces.

Lookin' good...

Give her a good stir...

Allow to cook for several minutes before adding ground turkey/beef.  (which is optional) 

Adding a little lean ground beef

Giving it a good stir

My favorite part...adding the puree's! (I used pumpkin and red pepper.  you could use sweet potato, butternut squash, green or yellow pepper)

Give another stir...

I feel like tossing in some carrots today.  But why grate them myself when you have a food processor?  I added a little water or chicken broth to make it a tad smoother.  (these are RAW carrots)

After pouring in the broth, I added raw carrot puree and tomato paste.

She's a beauty!  Turn down heat to low and let simmer to evaporate the juices.  About 15 minutes or so...

THAT'S IT!  I'm going to freeze mine and save for another day.  This is a LARGE batch.