Mini lentil loaves

As promised, here's the first of my Thanksgiving recipes, mini lentil loaves.  I bake them in a petite loaf pan, so they come out as little individually sized loaves - which makes it easy to freeze some for later!

Mini Lentil Loaves
Makes 8 mini loaves

1.5 c red lentils

3 c water

2 Tbsp flax

6 Tbsp warm water

1 c rolled oats

½ c diced onion

6 Tbsp ketchup

4 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp dried basil

½ tsp seasoning salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease loaf pan.

 2. In a saucepan, combine lentils & 3 c water.  Bring to a boil and simmer until cooked and most of water is absorbed, about 20 min. Mash.

 3. Combine flax & 6 Tbsp warm water. Set aside for 5 min.

 4. In a bowl, combine lentils, oats and onion. Add flax mix, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, basil and salt. Mix well, it should stick together and not be soupy (if it’s soupy, add more oats).

 5. Spray mini loaf pans with cooking spray. Evenly divide up lentil mixture. Even out the tops with a spatula or fork.

6. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden and crispy.

If you want a normal loaf size, you just need to increase the cooking time another 15-20 minutes.  When I'm not eating it smothered with holiday gravy, I like to eat it meatloaf-style with a drizzle of ketchup or sliced up in a sandwich.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

A lot has happened since my last post over a year ago. I started my new job, which constantly threatens to swallow me up into the vast workaholic void where I'll never see my loved ones or kitchen again. But I sneak away when I can.

I got engaged. To an omni, Mr Pescador. But he eats what I cook for him and always tells me it's delicious, so we make it work. Last month we moved in together. I love our new place - it's closer to work (yay sleeping in 15 min more!) and the kitchen is huge. There's even enough cabinet space for all my gadgets.

Which brings me to Thanksgiving dinner. Mr Pescador's mom hosted on Thanksgiving day and she seems to take it as a personal affront if I bring my own meal, so I ate what I could and planned for my own totally veg Thanksgiving on Friday.

I'll be posting the recipes in a series of posts, but here's the menu (apologies for the horrible camera phone photo, much of my photography gear is still packed):

Mini lentil loaves (pictured), sage and onion stuffing (pictured), mashed potatoes with holiday gravy (pictured), green bean casserole (pictured), garlic and mustard glazed Brussels sprouts, sweet potato saute with pecans and cranberries, spiced cranberry sauce, and pumpkin-pecan pie. I like both pumpkin and pecan pies but I didn't want to bake 2 whole pies so I figured why choose?

It was great to spend time with family Thursday, but also to be able to cook and eat my version of a Thanksgiving feast Friday. I think I started a new tradition.