Food Revolution Sloppy Joes

Have you checked out the Food Revolution movement that has been sweeping the nation? Sponsored by Jamie Oliver and the American Heart Association, it is an effort to re-introduce fresh food in people’s lives. A big push of the Food Revolution is to clean up school lunches and create menus that feature more vegetables, fruits and whole foods. The Food Revolution team worked tirelessly to remove flavored milk from Los Angeles Public Schools! That is a lot of unnecessary sugar cut out of children’s diets! Very cool! (You can easily google data regarding the sugar content in flavored milk.)

Considering the alarming rate of obesity and diabetes in our country, I really don’t see why these measures are being debated at every level. This topic might even be offensive to some of you reading this blog post today. People’s lives and health are at stake here…. Educating people how to cook and what to eat is basic in my opinion.  (You can also easily google data regarding obesity and diabetes in this country.)

It’s pretty surprising that I feel so strong about this movement, because in all other areas I believe in total personal freedoms, personal responsibility, and personal decision making. I do think people have the right to eat whatever they choose, including high-fat, high-sodium, highly-processed foods…. The problem comes when people have no choices… or when people are undereducated about nutrition and the effects food has on their health.  No one can make any good decision without correct information.

I will step off my soapbox now and invite you to discover the Food Revolution on your own. You can easily learn as much as you want about this movement on the internet. I have a link on the right side of this blog where you can sign a petition and find links to lots of great stuff – including excellent recipes, including this one. (There are great recipes on the American Heart Association web site also.)

These sandwiches were very good – but not really like the Sloppy Joes I am used to. (My Sloppy Joe recipe is posted on my Mlive blog here.) They had a nice sweetness and hearty texture. I added more tomato sauce and more beans than Jamie Oliver’s original recipe, which you can find here. I also added red pepper flakes.

Here’s what you need:

¾ pound lean ground turkey (with the least amount of fat you can purchase)

Chopped onion

Chopped green pepper

1 C tomato sauce

2 T cider vinegar

1 ½ T brown sugar

1 T honey

2 t Dijon mustard

½ t chili powder

Red pepper flakes to taste

1 X 15 ounce can kidney beans (today I used pinto beans)- drained and rinsed

Here’s what you do:

Brown the meat with the onions and peppers. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the veggies are getting tender. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened and veggies are nice.

I served mine on whole wheat tortillas. They would be great on buns also.

(printable recipe)