I found The Magical Loaf Studio by Jennifer McCann of The Vegan Lunchbox Blog fame. She created this nifty online form where you can pick the beans, grains, vegetables, nuts, herbs, spices and flavorings and create a recipe for a veggie loaf! I picked some ingredients I had on hand and the form gave me this recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2 TB water or broth for steam-frying
One onion, diced
One large garlic clove, minced
One large carrot, peeled and grated
Two celery ribs, diced
One cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
One jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup cooked millet
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed
1 heaping TB flaxseed meal
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 TB nutritional yeast flakes
2 TB ketchup
2 tsp. Spike or other low sodium seasoning blend
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8×8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8×8 pan makes a crisper loaf).
Grind the pumpkin seeds into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Sauté any vegetables you’ve chosen in the water or broth for steam-frying until soft.
Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.
Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.
Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.
Cold leftover slices make a great sandwich filling.
My substitutions/changes
- I subbed the mushrooms with cup of chopped kale. My only complaint is that there wasn’t more vegetable options in the form. The kale in here turned out great.
- I didn’t have cooked millet so I used other starchy foods: 1/2 cup mashed chestnuts and 1/2 cup mashed acorn squash
- I added a beaten egg to help with the binding since I had those in the fridge.
- I didn’t mix in the ketchup. Instead I spread it across the top (this was how my mother would do her meatloaf).
Here it is before spreading the ketchup and baking.
The result was delicious. There was a good amount of sage in my Italian seasoning so the loaf has a “thanksgiving” flavor to it. It firmed up nice after chilling in the fridge so leftovers are great in sandwiches.
Makes 8 servings (or 4 really hearty servings)
Calories: 140
Fat: 2 g
Saturated fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 23 mg
Sodium: 89 mg
Carbohydrate: 23 g
Fiber: 6 g
Protein: 8 g
Nutritional powerhouse for a host of nutrients packed into only 140 calories (Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Magnesium, Selenium, Isothiocyanates, Carotenoids, etc).
