Homemade Sloppy Joes

I was at work today, trying to think of something easy to make for "Monday night dinner" and it popped in my head that I wanted Sloppy Joes.  I based mine on this recipe which is my goto for this dish.  I omitted the beans but basically followed everything else.  Except the mustard.  I have dry mustard but it's old - I threw it out tonight as a matter of fact.  I mean, how often have I used it???  Not very much, that's for sure.  I have this huge Costco squeeze bottle of French's yellow mustard so I just used a good plop of that instead.  Oh, and I think I threw out my molasses a while ago too for the same reason as the mustard powder.  I just substituted real maple syrup instead though brown sugar would have done the trick too.

Ah, so of course, to the chopping.  I feel like that's all I do...  I told my son I should have started him in the kitchen when he was 3 years old, and not on the computer.  :)  It seems like he will forever be my absent sous chef.

I made a salad first.  I had some organic baby arugula and added some sweet grape tomatoes, currants and cucumber.  I dressed this with a Champagne Pear vinaigrette courtesy of "Trader Joe's".  I covered it and put it back in the fridge.

I chopped the onion and garlic first and put them in the frying pan with some olive oil.

I proceeded to chop the red pepper and jalapeno.  I was betting that pepper was hot because my eyes started to water while cutting it and my nostrils cleared!

I sauteed the onion and garlic until soft and put in the ground beef next.  I seasoned with fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt.

I stirred until almost brown, then drained out the fat.  I then added the red pepper and jalapeno.  I stirred for about another 5 minutes and then added the remaining ingredients.  I was glad to see tomato sauce in a tetra pack too!  This is the first time I've seen it in the grocery store since I last bought sauce.

Anyway, when it came to a boil, I covered, lowered the heat to low and simmered for another 20 minutes.

When it was done, I toasted brioche buns under the broiler.  I just did it plain as I'm sure there was enough butter (cholesterol) in the bun already.

I plated.  If you've ever had a "Manwich", this is about a million times better and no doubt, better for you too.

I like this recipe because it doesn't use ketchup and eliminates excess sugar use.  For my tastes, the maple syrup was just right.  This was not sweet at all, but it wasn't missing anything.  The jalapeno had a nice zing but it wasn't overpowering at all, it mellowed with the simmer.  This is a really good recipe when you're craving some comfort food.  It was perfect for a Monday (the day I always need comforting)...