Photo by Joseph De Leo; styled by Mariya Yufest

The traditional Sloppy Joe brings many of us back to the days of orange cafeteria trays; heaping mounds of unidentifiable meat; and an easily deflated, overly processed, bleached white bun. But don't run screaming through the halls quite yet -- we've gone back to school to teach Sloppy Joe a lesson. This new and improved Sloppy Jane has worked hard to bring up her grades, shining in home economics and turning heads in the lunch room.

By replacing the typical ground beef with lean turkey, we start off with a base that is less fatty yet just as filling. A mix of onion, carrot, and bell pepper add sweetness, texture, and nutrition, taking this potential back-of-the-class troublemaker to a front-row overachiever. Instead of refined sugars and ketchup, we stick with pure tomato paste and naturally sweet dates to create a deceptively rich tomato sauce that's primed for the two-pronged punch of balsamic vinegar and yellow mustard. Whether you relish it on a whole-grain bun or over brown rice, a serving of this for lunch will have you rocketing to the head of the class.

Turkey Sloppy Janes

Serves 4

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste
1 cup grated carrots (from 1 large carrot)
3/4 pound ground turkey breast
1 can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates (about 5 dates)
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
5 teaspoons yellow mustard

See the full recipe at WholeFoodsMarket.com

How do you approach reinventing other classic childhood dishes? Share your cooking tips and serving suggestions in the comments section below.

Like this post? See the Easy Everyday topic from last week: Turkish Red Lentil Soup.