Adventures in Lentil "Meat" Loaf And Other Fun Things ...

Good evening, Gnawers!  What a busy day it has been!  I started the morning with yet another new green smoothie.  This one was definitely another winner.  I have been using so much kale lately that I forgot how much I love (and prefer) spinach in my smoothies!  Today's smoothie had absolutely no "green" taste to it all. It was just pure, unadulterated goodness.  It tasted like drinking a strawberry milkshake for breakfast.  I can definitely handle that every morning!  It does come out a slightly reddish, greenish, brownish color.  Do not be alarmed.  It is so good!  It tastes so DELICIOUS that I guarantee you will not even notice the color after your first sip!

Green Goodness Green Smoothie


Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups fresh spinach
• 1-2 tablespoons flaxseeds
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup (or a little more) frozen strawberries
• 1 cup frozen pineapple

Preparation Instructions:

• Add all ingredients to blender (VitaMix!) in order listed and blend until smooth.
• Serve and enjoy!!!

I had 6 clients today, which always keeps me on my toes.  I was able to sneak in a quick lunch around one.  Lunch was left over lemon garlic cannellini beans and mushrooms dumped over a pile of fresh spinach.  I also brought some dressing in case I needed it.  I mixed 3 parts fresh lemon juice with one part cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, plus sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.  I ended up eating the beans and mushrooms off of the top (I had forgotten just how amazing they were) and then adding the dressing to the spinach.  Delish.

I  rushed home after work to meet the cable guy and can finally say (after moving in a whopping six months ago) that my bedroom is sans crazy wires sticking out all over the place!  I do love having things in order.  My bedroom is finally complete!  It is a perfect beach retreat that suits me oh so very well.  Ahhhh.

My friend, Kelly, sent me a text in the late afternoon asking if I wanted to have dinner tonight.  I texted her back and invited over to my house for dinner if she felt brave enough to try my vegan fare.  This was risky since tonight's recipe was a new, slightly scary one for me.  Plus, in the 15 years I have known her, I have never cooked for her and I would describe her as more of a picky eater.  No pressure at all, right?!  Based on the grocery shopping I did last Tuesday (I have not been able to shop yet this week), I only had two options for what to cook for dinner tonight and I allowed Kelly to choose.  With my luck, she chose the more difficult one of the two recipes ... the one I have put off making all week for fear it would be a flop after what seemed like a lot of work.  "What the hell?" I thought.  "I'm going for it."

I made Vegan Lentil "Meat" Loaf (which is also gluten free) from a recipe I adapted from the Healthful Pursuit website.  I was able to cook the lentils before Kelly arrived.  Let me tell you about what I did with the lentils so that you don't make the same mistake.  I wasn't sure how many dry lentils it would take to make the 2 cups of cooked lentils I needed for the recipe.  As is typical for me, I made waaaaaaay too many.  A simple google search for this information would have saved me from eating lentils for every meal for the next week!  It turns out that 1/2 cup of dry lentils equals about 1 cup of cooked lentils.  Make a note of it.  Also, please feel free to send me recipe ideas for all these cooked lentils I have stockpiled now!

Kelly watched as I prepared and we chatted as I cooked.  I waited nervously for the oven to beep to see how my creation would turn out.  The whole house smelled delicious and even the dogs were circling the kitchen looking for someone to drop something from the non-meat treat.  The lentil "meat" loaf turned out SO good.  It tasted like real meatloaf!  Kelly said that she loved it and oohed and ahhhhed as we ate.  Score again for the vegans!  I love meatloaf and did not believe that it could be replaced with rabbit, er, I mean, vegan food.  Guess what?  It can an it was!  Hallelujah!  This will certainly go down as a family favorite.

Vegan Lentil "Meat" Loaf (also Gluten-Free)


Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 6 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, pressed through garlic press or finely minced
• 1 cup mushrooms, diced
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup vegan spicy  BBQ sauce (I used Annie's Chipotle), divided
• sea salt to taste
• cracked black pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked green lentils. cooled and divided (see below for instructions on cooking lentils)
• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats, divided 
• 1/2 cup almond flour

Preparation Instructions:

1.  Cook green lentils.  Here is a good tutorial for doing so: http://startcooking.com/blog/196/Lentils.  It is really very simple.  No soaking needed and done in under 25 minutes.  :)  

2.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

3.  Add ground flaxseed to a small bowl.  I ground my own using my VitaMix!  You can also buy it already ground or use your coffee grinder. 

4.  Add boiling water to the bowl with ground flaxseed and stir to combine well.  Set aside to allow mixture to thicken and cool.  This makes a flax "egg" (aka: egg substitute) for keeping the loaf together.

5.  Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or heavy bottomed skillet.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5-8 minutes or until the onions are tender.  Stir during this time to make sure garlic does not brown or burn.

6.  Add mushrooms to pan and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender.  

7.  Add in thyme and spinach and cook for about 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted.  

8.  Add in 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce and stir to combine.  Add sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.  Turn off the heat and set aside.  

9.  In a food processor or blender (VitaMix!), process 1 and 1/2 cups of the green lentils with 1/2 cup of the rolled oats until smooth (it is okay to still have some chunky bits).

10.  Spoon mixture into a large bowl.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of green lentils, 1/2 cup of rolled oats, flax "egg" mixture, almond flour, and vegetable mixture.  Stir really well to combine.  You may need to get in there with your hands to make sure you mix it really well the way you would do with regular meatloaf or meatballs.  

11.  Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper (make sure to leave parchment paper hanging out over the sides so you can easily get the loaf out after it is cooked).  Use your hands to press the mixture in really well.  Brush on the remaining 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce.

12.  Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes or so.  Pull the loaf from the pan by grabbing the sides of the parchment paper and lifting it straight out.  Allow it to cool for another 5-10 minutes.  

13.  Slice and garnish with thyme.  Serve with extra BBQ sauce for those that may want it.

14.  Eat and enjoy!!!

I served my lentil "meat" loaf with salade vinaigrette, my most recent favorite salad.  Yum!  This was another great meal for the books!

Well gnawers, that is all from me tonight.  I hope that you are each feeling healthy, hopeful, and motivated as we make it through the rest of this week!  Until next time ... take good care of you!!!