As a vegan, it is sometime a challenge to know what dishes to bring to social gatherings. Recently our church had a special potluck lunch with the theme “Holy Smokes” – featuring BBQ meat dishes. I took up the challenge and decided to try a recipe I found in the Feb/March 2019 edition of Taste of Home Magazine. This would be a great meal for families with younger kids. It was simple to make, tastes great and it serves 14 (perfect for potlucks and family gatherings)!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 6 garlic cloves, minced (3 tsp.)
• 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
• 5 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can (8 0z) tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
• 4 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1 1/2 tsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 14 whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted.

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, peppers and carrot; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
2. Add broth and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve on buns.

Note: I found that this mixture was too sloppy so you may want to reduce the vegetable broth some. It did thickened some in the fridge overnight.

Nutrition info: 1 sandwich: 215 cal., 5 g fat (1 sat. fat), 0 cholesterol, 438mg sodium, 38g carbohydrate (8g sugar, 7 g fiber), 8g protein.