Sloppy Lennys

• total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

3 pickled cherry or peppadew peppers chopped, plus more as needed

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon pickled pepper brine

4 cups water

1 cup red lentils

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 toasted burger buns

Fritos or fried onions

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and peppers, season with salt, and cook until softened and starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add chile powder and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in pickled pepper brine, scraping up browned bits, and cook until nearly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add water, lentils, ketchup, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, soy sauce, and ground black pepper. Season with salt to taste.

Bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pot to unstick any lentils, until lentils are tender and start to fall apart, 20 to 25 minutes. If you want it less sloppy, keep simmering until it’s as thick as you want. If the mixture looks dry and the lentils aren’t done yet, add more water. Serve sloppy lentils — excuse me, Lennys — on toasted burger buns with more sliced pickled peppers.

Nutrition

• Calories: 456 kcal
• Total Fat: 19 g
• Saturated Fat: 3 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg
• Sodium: 1196 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 62 g
• Dietary Fiber: 8 g
• Total Sugars: 16 g
• Protein: 13 g