lentil loaf
As soon as the weather cools I find myself drawn to the kitchen to make wholesome foods. With all the wonderful fall flavors to experiment with, I generally find myself making sweet desserts: pumpkin loaves and apple pies. This year though, I’ve been fantasizing about savory fare like potato topped, vegetable pies and seitan with gravy.
This weekend was full of projects and hard work which left little time for fun in the kitchen, let alone trips to the grocery store. Instead I cooked up 2 lentil loaves using the dregs of our pantry and leftovers in the fridge. While that might sound unappetizing, that is the simple beauty of a lentil loaf. You can throw nearly anything in there and it can still turn out delicious.
While I often include some veggies in our lentil loaves, this one is pure faux-meaty goodness. It’s moist and a little bit chewy, with a tiny bit of spicy here and there. We had it with some almond gravy, but it would be wonderful with some simple brown gravy as well (in fact, it doesn’t even need the gravy, but I like gravy and will eat it at any opportunity I get).
I made two completely different recipes, so today I’ll share the the first and once we try the second I’ll post it as well.
Vegan Lentil Loaf
- 2 cups cooked lentils
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup, plus more for topping
- 1/4 cup bbq sauce
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
Preheat your oven to 375°
Heat a bit of oil in a small pan and saute the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant.
Mix all ingredients, minus the wheat gluten and veggie broth in a bowl. I like to use potato masher to smoosh (yes, that’s a technical term) some of the lentils. Mix together until you have a consistent mush.
Add in the vital wheat gluten and vegetable broth and knead together until it becomes slightly elastic. Press the dough into a greased loaf pan. Brush the top with ketchup to cover it.
Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Fall is near
Today started with some pumpkin spice cupcakes. These are probably the first cupcakes I ever made, and they’re still one of my favorites. Though I usually just go with the plain white frosting, I had a bit of fun decorating these for a friend’s birthday. Also, learned a lesson today: it is a lot more difficult to transport on a bicycle than you might think.
For dinner tonight I made lentil loaf with mashed potatoes and nutritional yeast gravy. My boyfriend has been working very hard lately so I’ve been trying to make some special dinners in the past week, including penne a la vodka and bubble and squeak. I have to say that the gravy turned out super good. I’ve made lentil loaf before and while this was still really good, I think my lentil cooking skills this time were not quite there. Overall though, delicious dinner, with lots of leftovers. Yum.
Another really exciting thing for me is that I got some yarn that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time now. Turns out to be perfect timing, because it’s just the time of year to really get knitting.
