I loved a tangy, tomato-ey, messy, sloppy joe as a child. It was always our Farmers Market Day tradition. Growing up, our local farmers market had a prepared food stand where the farmers wives produced some authentic home cookin’. Pierogies drowning in brown onions and butter, potato pancakes perfectly fried w/ a dollop of applesauce and sour cream, and my favorite, sloppy joe’s (well, we actually called them whimpies.) On chilly fall days my mom would take us to the market and while she shopped and chatted w/ the local farmers we would eat sloppy joe’s and carmel apples. To this day my mouth waters when I think of those Joes.

Once in awhile an old school “Joe” does the trick, but I updated this classic to make it both healthier (that is my JOB after all) and, in my opinion, more delicious. Adding smoked paprika gives it that little kick that updates a classic in the best way.

But what about that easy can of plain ol’ “regular” Sloppy Joe ‘stuff’ you ask?
Here is the ingredient list… you tell me what’s wrong with it:

INGREDIENTS:

Tomato paste (water, tomato paste), high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, less than 2% of: salt, sugar, dehydrated onions, dehydrated red & green bell peppers, chile pepper, tomato fiber, spices, guar gum, xanthan gum, dehydrated garlic, carob gum, natural flavors.

It could almost… almost pass the “once in awhile food” test, if it weren’t for that pesky high fructose corn syrup. Sorry, that makes it a “Never food.”

This re-due is easy, but the best part is all the added veggies; zucchini, green pepper, onion, jalapeno… not only do these veggies add the obvious fiber and nutrients but they also help to bulk the recipe so you get more bang for your buck.

I made this version with organic, grass-fed, local ground beef. It would work with ground chicken or ground turkey, crumbled tofu, whatever floats your Sloppy Joe boat. The key here is to add the veggies so the quantity of animal protein you are consuming is less.

Without further adieu I give you…