Lentil sloppy joes

Sloppy joes always look so good to me. They just seem so warm and comforting and filling, but rarely do you see them without ground beef so I decided to try making my own with lentils instead of the meat. It turned out really well and came together faster than I expected, especially since I used lentils that I had cooked in advance. If you don't have cooked lentils on hand just boil them for 30 minutes while you're making the sauce.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1/4 of a green pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4-5 baby carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce (look for a vegetarian one)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 can (15 ounce) tomato sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1-2 dashes of crushed red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 cup of cooked brown lentils

Directions:

In a medium sauce pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Saute onion, green pepper, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and paprika and stir to combine everything. Add tomato sauce, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes, then stir to incorporate. Bring everything to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce is nice and thick. Taste the sauce a few times during the cooking process and adjust the seasonings to your liking being careful not to add too much salt to early since the sauce will continue to reduce as it cooks. Put lentils in a separate small sauce pot and turn burner to medium heat, then add some (not all!) of your sauce, stirring frequently until it is as saucy as you'd like. Allow the lentils to warm up in the sauce for a few minutes, then remove from heat and serve on buns with any toppings you'd like (red onion, pickles, mustard, lettuce, etc).