Lentil Loaf & Smashed Root Vegetables

Vegan Lentil Loaf (slightly adapted from Amuse Your Bouche, Serves 6, Total Time: 75 minutes)

Ingredient

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. curry powder
• ¼ tsp. cayenne chili pepper
• ½ tsp. paprika
• ¾ cup red lentils (based on conversion from grams)
• 4 cups vegetable stock (based on conversion from mL)
• Black pepper
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• ½ cup rolled oats (based on conversion from grams
• 3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat; cook the red onion, garlic and carrot for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the next 4 ingredients (the 4 spices), and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the lentils and stock and season well with black pepper and the dried herbs. Simmer for around 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft. Stir regularly.
3. Add the fresh parsley, and stir in as many oats as you need to bring the mixture to the correct consistency (I actually needed about 1.5 cups of oats). It should be moist, but sturdy enough to hold its shape solidly. Mix well.
4. While the mixture is cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F.
5. Lightly grease a baking dish or loaf tin, and spoon in the lentil mixture. Spread out until smooth.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, and then gently turn out onto a baking tray. If needed, grill (broil) for a few minutes to crisp up the top. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, before carefully slicing.

This is delicious! I think it is the best loaf that I have made and my husband liked it too!  The only item that I changed to the above list was using 3 tsp. dried parsley in lieu of 3 Tbsp. fresh.  As noted, I did need a lot more oats than was called for and I was scared that the loaf would dry out while cooking, but it didn’t!  Next time I make it, I plan to use 1 or 1.25 cups of red lentils so that I can cut back on the oats.

The loaf is moist and has a crisp top and ends. I thought it would taste a lot like oatmeal, but it didn’t.  The creamy texture has a mixed taste that combines the veggies, lentils, and the oats, with no single spice or item overpowering it.  I definitely plan on making this again (especially since my taste buds are watering again, and I just had leftovers for lunch).

I served this dish with Smashed Root Vegetables.  I made the root vegetable dish while the loaf was in the oven.

Smashed Root Vegetables (slightly adapted from Woman’s Day, Servings: 8, Total Time: 45 minutes)

Ingredients

• ½ pound(s) parsnips, peeled
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces
• 1 ½ pounds (1 large) rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ pound (about 4) carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil

Directions

1. Quarter the parsnips lengthwise. Cut out and discard the woody centers. Cut the remaining parsnips into 1-inch pieces. Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie the rosemary and parsley together.
2. Place the parsnips, herbs, garlic, potatoes, rutabaga, and carrots in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp. salt, reduce heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove and discard the herbs. Reserve ½ cup cooking liquid, drain the vegetables and return them to the pot. drizzle the oil over the vegetables, season with ½ tsp. each salt and pepper and, using the back of a fork or potato masher, smash the vegetables (adding some of the reserved liquid if the vegetables seem dry). Sprinkle with the chives before serving, if desired.

I did not use the fresh herbs, but rather dried (a few dashes each of rosemary and parsley) and left them in the dish after draining (well, as many as stayed on the root veggies).  I should have cut the carrots smaller because they did not mash well, even when I used my handheld mixer. The rutabaga also didn't  mash completely, so there were some chunks of that in each serving.

The flavor of the dish was kind of flat – not bad, but not a wowser either.  My husband was OK with it, but said that it wasn’t worth the time and effort that it took to make it.  (He would rather I made garlic mashed potatoes.)  I did find that adding some extra pepper to the leftovers helps out the dish.

Mexican Meatloaves

Mexican Meatloaves (adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 8-12, Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 packages Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles

·         6 oz. box of vegetarian stuffing mix (I used Stove Top for Pork)

·         1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) Mexican-style diced tomatoes, undrained

·         1-1/2cups  Mexican Style Shredded Cheese, divided

·         1 cup  Salsa, divided

·         2 eggs

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

1.)    Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2.)    Mix crumbles, stuffing mix, tomatoes, 1-1/4 cups cheese, 3/4 cup salsa, eggs and garlic until well blended. Shape into 2 loaves in 13x9-inch baking dish.

3.)    Bake 50 min. Meanwhile, mix remaining salsa and sugar.

4.)    Spread salsa mixture over meatloaves; top with remaining cheese.

5.)    Bake 10 min.

This made a lot more meatloaf than I thought it would, but that’s not a bad thing!  I served this with the Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes and some steamed veggies.  As with the sweet potato dish, it was both sweet and spicy.  I could taste more of the sweet at first (due to the brown sugar glaze), but the spicy kicked in when you delved a little deeper into the loaf.  This was pretty easy to make, but next time I’ll half the recipe.

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes (slightly adapted from Food Network, Servings: 4, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

·         2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

·         ½ tsp. kosher salt

·         1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, chopped

·         1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from the pepper can

Directions

1.)    Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring the water to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

2.)    Drain the water from the pot.  Add the butter and salt and mash with a potato masher. Add the chile and sauce and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately

I served these with Mexican meatloaf.  They were sweet and spicy, a great combination.  The potatoes were creamy and went down easily, even with the hint of spice from the adobo pepper and sauce.  I added a bit of extra sauce to mine, but it still wasn’t overly hot.  My husband liked the dish, but it was slightly too hot for him.  Easy and tasty!

Red Thai Curry Soup (slightly adapted from Amuse Your Bouche. Servings: 4+, Total Time: 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 16 oz. mixed stir-fry vegetables (I used a frozen Asian blend), cooked

·         2-3 Tbsp. red Thai curry paste

·         14.5 oz. can light coconut milk

·         ½ 16 oz. pkg egg noodles, cooked

·         Salt

·         Black pepper

·         14.5 oz. water (fill the can from the coconut milk)

·         2 Tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped

Instructions

1.       Add the curry paste and cooked veggies to a large frying pan, mix well (I used 2.5 Tbsp. curry paste so that my husband could handle the dish) over medium heat.

2.       Add the coconut milk and the noodles, and season to taste with salt and pepper. I also added around 1 can of water – just add what you need to get the curry/soup to your desired consistency.

3.       Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, simmering very gently, until the curry is hot.  Add the coriander and serve immediately

I converted the numbers from the original recipe using an online calculator (the oz. were in ML and grams) and I think that the proportions were slightly off.  I used a whoel bag of noodles, which is why I suggest half a bag in the ingredients list.  One bag was way too much and made this a curry, not a soup.

The taste of this dish was just OK for me, not as spicy as I woul dhave liked and not with the depth of flavor that I am used to from my other curry dishes.  I don’t think that was just the noodles.  Maybe extra coconut milk instead of water or maybe some other spices would help.  I did use dried coriander instead of fresh (2 tsp.), but I don’t think that affected the taste.

Anyways, the dish was OK, but I don’t think that I’ll make it again.  I did look at some other recipes on this site and they look delicious.  Stay tuned for more!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2-1/2 lb. baking potatoes (about 7), peeled, quartered

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 tub (8 oz.) Cream Cheese Spread

·         1 Tbsp. margarine

Directions

1.      Cook potatoes and garlic in boiling water in large saucepan 20 min. or until potatoes are tender; drain.

2.      Mash potatoes until smooth.

3.      Add remaining ingredients; mix well.

I made this dish for Thanksgiving and the family really enjoyed it.  I used one or two additional cloves of garlic and it worked out perfectly.  My husband loves garlic and I am OK with it, but we both loved the potatoes.  The potatoes were soft and creamy, a perfect complement to my family’s turkey and my Tofurky!

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion (from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 50 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. whole green beans, trimmed

·         1 each red and yellow pepper, cut into thin strips

·         1 large onion, cut into thin strips

·         ½ cup  Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

·         ½ cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

1.)    Heat oven to 400°F.

2.)    Toss vegetables with dressing in large roasting pan.

3.)    Bale 30 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring after 15 min.

4.)    Sprinkle with cheese; bake 2 to 3 min. or until melted.

I made this for Thanksgiving at my mother’s. I used a sweet balsamic dressing from Kraft and it imparted an excellent flavor onto the vegetables.  A sweet/sour taste since it was a vinaigrette.  My family really enjoyed this as well.  I used frozen green beans, thawed, and tossed them with the rest of the veggies.  I think that this dish could honestly do without the cheese (when using the sweet balsamic) – I don’t feel that it really added anything. Maybe with regular balsamic it would.  The veggies stayed crisp and worked well with a side dish of mashed potatoes.  A great side dish to Thanksgiving dinner (and my Tofurky).  Enjoy!