Vegan Lentil Nut Loaf

Vegan Lentil Nut Loaf is easy, healthy, and delicious! Perfect for dinner, Thanksgiving, or Christmas meals. I make some kind of loaf for every Thanksgiving I have at my home – which is every year. LOL. Sometimes I do a pure lentil loaf, sometimes I do a nut loaf, sometimes a straight-up vegan meatloaf, and occasionally a mushroom wellington (click HERE for that recipe). Needless to say, I just try to change up the deliciousness every year since I host a vegan Thanksgiving annually.

I already had one vegan Thanksgiving thus far! My friend and her daughter came over since we won’t be able to spend the actual day together. It was amazing! We drank too much wine, good beer, and listened to too much Christmas music (is there such a thing?). The kids topped it off with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Round two of unnecessary eating came late night after some porch time with Jack Herer. LOL. That’s also when we thought it was a good idea to dive into the beers. Fuck it, right? We only live once and spending this time with friends is precious. Especially as we are preparing for our inevitable departure to our new home – Shenzhen, China. It couldn’t come soon enough!

This year, our T-day will be with my sister and her son. Simple but perfect. Again, getting that time in with our nearest and dearest! It is HARD with COVID. My Saturday night plans are now on Zoom. Ideal? No. However, still fun. It is really important to maintain connections and stay social during this pandemic. One of the few things that have truly helped.

I’ll have a few more vegan Thanksgiving recipes posted in the next ten days, and then my annual vegan Thanksgiving menu post with some T-day trivia for your holiday. Treat yourself to some early T-day grub because “fuck it,” it’s COVID and we might as well! On that note, cheers!

To get you in the holiday spirit…

Vegan Lentil Nut Loaf

Makes 8 slices

Ingredients –

2 C brown lentils (I use Trader Joe’s steamed lentils)

1 1/2 C walnuts – chopped finely

1 Tbl olive oil

3 Tbl vegetable broth

2 C yellow onion

1/2 Cup carrot – diced

1 C celery – diced

4 cloves garlic – minced

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp sage

3 tsp oregano

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 C tomato paste

1 vegan egg equivalent – I use a flax “egg” – 1 Tbl ground flax with 3 Tbl water mixed well

1 1/4 C breadcrumbs

For the glaze:

1/3 cup ketchup (I use a good ketchup – Portland Ketchup)

2 Tbl balsamic vinegar

1 Tbl real maple syrup

Directions –

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat

Add the onion, celery, carrot, and salt – mix and cook for about 7 minutes

Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes

Add the broth, lentils, oregano, thyme, sage, and salt & pepper and cook for 5 minutes more stirring ocassionally

In a large bowl, add the lentil mix, breadcrumbs, vegan egg, and tomato paste – mix very well (use a masher or your hands)

Flatten the contents of the bowl into a loaf pan

Evenly spread glaze on the top of the loaf

Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes

Done!

Wine pairings –

Red – Barbaresco, tempranillo

White – Chardonnay

Beer pairings-

German hefeweizen, English brown ale