Whole Food Vegan Veggie Loaf

I used to really like meatloaf. My Dad had the best recipe. As I really ponder it, I'm not sure if he had an actual tangible recipe that he followed or if it was just mostly in his head. Whatever it was, I thought it was pretty good. However, now when I think about...meatloaf in general is pretty darn gross. Sorry. Eww, okay, must stop thinking about it. I'm happy to say that I've found a much better alternative to ground animal bits transformed into a "loaf". My recipe for a Whole Food Vegan Veggie Loaf! The best part (besides no need for killed animals) is that there's no tofu, no textured vegetable protein or even vegan grain-meat. It's made from real, whole foods like lentils, oats, and a few other magical ingredients. I know, it sounds like crazy, hippie food and you're thinking it's no where near as good as real meat loaf, but I promise you that it's just as good. I wouldn't lie to you! Santa Claus is coming to town soon!  I'm good for goodness sake.

So skip the meatloaf (or meat in general!) and surprise your friends and family with a peaceful feast that includes this Whole Food Vegan Veggie Loaf! 

veggieloafI've been thinking that this will be a great alternative to turkey, pig or cow for the Holidays. I can't wait to share it with everyone! 

Whole Food Vegan Veggie Loaf 

Adapted slightly from the renowned Plant-Powered Kitchen

Serves 6

  • --Veggie Loaf--
  • 1/2 cup dry red lentils
  • 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 3/4 cup dry steel-cut oats
  • 2 cups water, boiling
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup dry old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 2 Tbsp. flaxseed, ground
  • 2 Tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. tahini
  • 1 Tbsp. molasses
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/8 tsp. black pepper
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • --Topping--
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder (optional)
  • sprinkling of dried oregano

In a large saucepan, combine the lentils, vegetable broth and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium and cover. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes. After this time the lentils should be cooked. 

lentilloaf (1 of 9)Add in the steel-cut oats and water, stirring well. Bring back to a boil, then cover, turn to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover after the 10 minutes, stir well and cook uncovered until the water is gone and the steel-cut oats are mostly cooked.

While the oats are cooking, combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well. Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a bread pan with parchment paper, then coat with a nonstick cooking spray. 

When the oats are finished cooking and resemble a dryish cooked oatmeal, remove the bay leaf and add in all the remaining ingredients, except for the topping. Stir well to combine. 

lentilloaf (2 of 9)Transfer the mixture into the bread pan, spreading it out evenly. Brush on the topping, sprinkle with oregano and cover gently with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 F for about 25-30 minutes then remove the foil and continue to bake for another 7-10 minutes. 

lentilloaf (3 of 9)Once done, remove from oven and allow to rest on a cooling rack, in-pan for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

lentilloaf (4 of 9)

Serve as you would meatloaf and enjoy a peaceful feast! 

lentilloaf (7 of 9) lentilloaf (8 of 9)Blaring Michael Bublé – Holly Jolly Christmas ...alone...in my office tech area...

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No Chicken Vegan Pad Thai

I. Love. Pad. Thai. Love it! I've made one or two pad Thai dishes since becoming vegan. They were both super healthy and "noodle-free." While still good, I've decided that pad Thai is not to be messed with. It's meant to have noodles. It's meant to have chicken...well...grain-meat chicken. Vegan chicken. It's meant to have a rockin' sauce with cilantro and mung beans and crushed peanuts perched atop! Yum! This No Chicken Vegan Pad Thai has all that and a bag of chips. Featuring steamed broccoli and sliced grain-meat chicken. A robust homemade sauce coats the rice noodles, topped with crushed peanuts, mung beans and fresh cilantro. 

It's quick, simple and totally delicious. I have to make it in fairly small quantities or before I know it, I'll have devoured five servings of rice noodles. Two ounces per serving?! What is that? That seems pretty darn skimpy to me...that's all I'm saying. 

You have to try this. It's soooo good. One of my favorite dishes!

padthaP

No Chicken Vegan Pad Thai

Inspired by Vegetarian Ventures

Serves 2-3

  • --Sustenance--
  • 1 head of broccoli, florets only and chopped
  • 8 oz. dry stir-fry style rice noodles
  • 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 vegan grain-meat chicken breasts, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • --Sauce--
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
  • sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
  • --Toppings--
  • fresh cilantro, chopped
  • crushed peanuts 
  • fresh bean sprouts

Begin by steaming the chopped broccoli until bright green and just tender. When ready, remove from heat and set aside until ready to use. 

padthai (1 of 10)Bring a medium pot of water to boil and follow the directions on the package for cooking the rice noodles. Usually this means once the water is boiling, add the noodles, remove from heat, cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside until ready to use.

padthai (2 of 10)While the noodles are doing their thing. Heat the oil in a large saute pan and and in the garlic and the sliced grain-meat chicken. Saute until the chicken is heated thoroughly and the garlic becomes fragrant. 

While the chicken is cooking, add all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. 

When the noodles are finished cooking, add them to the heated chicken.

padthai (4 of 10)Add in the broccoli and the sauce and stir everything over low heat for a minute or two to heat. 

Serve warm and topped with fresh cilantro and crushed peanuts!

padthai (7 of 10)Also, add fresh bean sprouts if you can find them. They're hard to come by where I'm at. 

padthai (6 of 10)Oh yes. Christmas Meditation – Jingle Bells Recipe Card

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Roasted Ratatouille with Polenta

Ratatouille. It's always seemed much too fancy for me to make. Too fussy...and too intimidating.

Boy do I feel like a fool. 

Ratatouille is easy as pie and it's a straight up snazzy way to get in all those great veggies. I made it for a dinner with my dad and his better half and I thought dismally, "Oh surely they'll hate it. I'm sure it's no good." This was of course, before actually tasting it. How good could it be anyway? It's just some veggies and tomato puree, essentially. It all seemed terribly effortless. A fool. Again. 

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Roasted Ratatouille with Polenta


Roasted Ratatouille with Polenta
By

This ratatouille is simple, delicious and downright lovely. Roasted eggplant, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and red bell pepper all roasted to perfection and perched atop a cheesy, creamy bed of polenta. Inspired by The Comfort of Cooking and theKitchn.

Ingredients
  • 1 11 oz. can of tomato puree
  • ½ medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
  • ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ¼ tsp. dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp. kosher salt
  • sprinkle of ground black pepper, to taste
  • sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 small eggplant, sliced thinly
  • 1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
  • 1 yellow summer squash, sliced thinly
  • 1 skinny red bell pepper, sliced thinly
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 cup of dry polenta
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • ½ up nutritional yeast

Instructions
  1. Start by pouring the tomato puree into a medium baking dish. Scatter the diced onion and garlic evenly on the bottom of the dish, on top of the puree. Atop that, evenly scatter the herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
  2. Preheat oven to 375° F. Slice up all the vegetables into very thin disks. Then, starting with two disks of eggplant layer atop that, two disks of zucchini, two of the squash, and followed by one of the bell pepper. When layering, ensure only a small crescent of the bottom vegetable disk is showing. Repeat until all the vegetables are used up. The vegetables may have to be in stacked lines atop one another and that's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect.
  3. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and a little dried herbs. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling up and the vegetables are cooked.
  4. Bring the water and salt to boil over high heat. Add in the polenta and whisk vigorously, until it's thickened slightly. Then, turn down to low and cover. Every 10 minutes, stir vigorously scraping along the bottom and sides. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until it's smooth and thick. Remove from heat and stir in the nutritional yeast.
  5. Serve the ratatouille over the polenta. Drizzle with a little olive oil if you want!

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    Yield: 6-8 servings