Lentil and Quinoa Loaf

There’s nothing better than comfort food to get you through a long, cold Chicago winter. Vegan meatloaf is one of my favorite comfort foods during the cold weather season. The main ingredients in this one are lentils, mushrooms, and quinoa. These three healthy and wholesome ingredients make this ‘meatloaf’ super tasty. I used green lentils which require one hour of soaking time and also about 2o minutes of cooking time. I also recommend cooking your quinoa ahead of time to make assembly easier. My potato masher really helped to combine all of the ingredients but a wooden spatula will also get the job done. I’m not a huge fan of barbecue sauce or sweet glazes so I included olive oil and hot sauce as the glaze for this loaf. This meatloaf is rich, earthy, and satisfying. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser and looks beautiful once it’s out of the pan. Greasing your pan ahead of time should help it flip easily but you can also use parchment to line the pan to help ease it out after baking (see picture below). Let me know if you make this dish by taking a picture and tagging @thefriendlyepicurean on social media!

Lentil and Quinoa Loaf

Servings: 8
Time: 3hrs
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 cup uncooked green lentils (3 cups cooked)
1/2 cup uncooked white quinoa (1.5 cups cooked)
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs tomato paste
2-3 tbs lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
olive oil spray
4 tbs hot sauce (such as Cholula brand)

Directions

Rinse lentils and remove any debris. Soak lentils in 3-4 cups hot water for 1 hour. Drain lentils and place in a medium sized saucepan. Add 3 cups water and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally and making sure lentils do not boil over. Once water is abosorbed, remove lentils from heat and set aside. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with olive oil spray and set aside. Partially line the pan with parchment paper, if desired, to easily lift loaf out of pan after baking (see picture above). In a small saucepan, cook quinoa in 1.5 cups water on medium heat until water is absorbed. Set quinoa aside. In a medium sized dutch oven or saucepan, heat olive on medium heat. Add onions and sauté until edges are browned (about 8-9 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for about 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add rosemary, thyme, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper pepper, and and sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, lemon juice, lemon rind. Cook for about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lentils and quinoa. Next add bread crumbs – stir well to make sure breadcrumbs are combined. Mash mixture with a potato masher if a smoother consistency is desired. Press mixture into loaf pan and smooth the top. Spray with olive oil spray then brush top with hot sauce. Bake at 375F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Edges will start to brown and pull away from sides of pan. Allow loaf to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving. May store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Nutritional Information: