Recipe: Lighter Sloppy Joes

Want to stretch your meat budget further, or are you just trying to eat less of it? Consider replacing half the meat in traditional sloppy joes with healthy, nutty canned chickpeas, which are packed with protein and fiber. This recipe is less sweet than many, and is topped off with crunchy pickle slices.

Get locally raised ground beef from JET Produce & Meats, Hedgewood Farms or TableTop Farms at the Lenexa Farmers Market. You can also find dried garbanzo beans, olive oil, onions and pickles from our vendors.

Recipe credit: Cooking Light

Yield: Serves 6 (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 ounces 90% lean ground beef or sirloin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8-ounce) can unsalted tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted
1 (15.5-ounce) can unsalted chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
Dill or bread-and-butter pickle chips

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until almost tender.
2. Add ground beef/sirloin and cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, sugar, and salt. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add 1/4 cup water and tomato sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes or until thickened.
4. Place chickpeas in a bowl and partially mash with a fork or potato masher. Stir chickpeas into meat mixture.
5. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto bottom half of each bun. Top each with pickle chips and top half of bun.