Hello friends! I took a bit of time offline around Thanksgiving, but I'm back in action to kick off the start of the final month of 2020. As usual, the holiday season seemed to sneak right up and the year will be over before we know it. Hopefully we can all take a bit of time here and there to slow down and enjoy it, perhaps with a few close family members and friends. Of course there is plenty of time for good food to end out the year on a healthy note, while still being completely satisfied at the same time.
Though this coming Saturday may be a bit different after some true winter weather arriving this week, my basket was full of goodies after hitting the farmers market this past weekend! You all know I can't resist a good market haul photo to show off the best from my local farmers. I'm thankful for the hard work they do year-round, but the holidays always make me that much more appreciative when they are out in the frigid conditions both on the farm and selling their harvests at the market. It really is great to be able to get such fresh, wholesome foods during the time of year when our immune systems need the most support!
I made sure to stop by the mushroom stand this week to see what she had at her table. I can't resist the golden oysters, but I also snagged some chestnut mushrooms this time to try. I've never had them before that I can recall. She mentioned they are lovely in a gravy, so of course I came home with my bags and gravy on the brain. Given that I was also writing an article this week for a corporate holiday wellness challenge about vegan main dishes for holiday meals, I decided a veggie loaf with homemade gravy was most certainly on the menu this week!
The gravy was quite simpleto come up with after looking at a few different recipes for inspiration, and I did the same once I settled upon lentils for my loaf of choice. It has been quite a while since I've used lentils in this way as I often opt for a favorite tempeh loaf from the Happy Herbivore cookbooks, or I use beans in my homemade burgers. It can be a bit of a challenge sometimes getting the right proportions down to get a loaf or patties to hold together, but after pulling this one out of the oven I was quite pleased how easily it came out of the pan. Until I started trying to take some photos for my post...
...disaster!
Silly me knocked into my cutting board and my loaf fell down to the counter, where it of course split into pieces. After quite a few choice words, but luckily no tears, I salvaged a few slices to finish out my photos. I had to laugh afterwards as it seemed like a bit of irony as I had just been talking to my pal 
In case you are curious what else is on the plate for this meal, I also cooked cabbage with red onion and apples in a bit of apple cider vinegar, mustard and caraway seeds. Roasted veggies also feature often this time of year, so cauliflower and sweet potatoes went into the oven as the loaf was cooking. I especially enjoy easy sides with a meal like this since it does take a few steps to get the loaf together. It's not difficult, but know if you have to cook your lentils to add an extra 30 or so minutes to your meal prep. I like cooking them from scratch to be able to infuse some flavor right into the legumes, but you can easily use pre-cooked lentils in a pinch!
Alright, time for the recipes. I'll share the mushroom gravy first as it is easy to make ahead if you like, especially if you are using it for a holiday meal. I'm always for making thing easy in the kitchen. I used my chestnut mushrooms in this, but you can easily substitute button mushrooms or anything else you can find locally.
Vegan Mushroom Gravy
Makes about 1 quart
- 1 small onion, peeled & diced
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned & chopped
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground celery seed (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon lambrusco vinegar or sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
- 4 tablespoons flour
Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion for 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of the vegetable broth as needed to prevent sticking. Next add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until they have released some moisture and have started to soften.
Stir the flour into the vegetable broth, then add to the pan with the remaining ingredients. Bring just to a simmer and cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the flour from sticking to the bottom and burning. Once the mixture is cooked through and thickened up, remove from heat, take out the bay leaf, taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
The gravy works great for any dish, and is pretty easy to make with common pantry ingredients!
Lentil & Veggie Loaf
Serves 6
- 1 cup dried lentils
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 small golden beets (or sub 2 carrots), finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, peeled & finely chopped
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons ground flax, soaked in 6 tablespoons water to make flax "eggs"
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried ground garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
Rinse and drain your dried lentils. Place in a medium saucepan with the bay leaf, thyme and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to let simmer for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the bay leaf and drain off any excess liquid. Set aside to cool slightly.
Chop the beets, celery and onion by hand or make it easy and toss them into the food processor to finely chop. Place in a skillet over medium heat and cook for 5-7 minutes, or slightly softened. Set aside to let cool slightly.
Place the oats in a food processor and pulse until broken down slightly. You don't need to turn them into flour, just break down the big flakes. Pour into a large bowl and add in the remaining dried seasonings (nutritional yeast through pepper).
Once the vegetables and lentils are cooled, add to your food processor and pulse until the lentils are broken down and the vegetables are evenly mixed in. Scoop out into the bowl with the oats, add in the flax eggs and tamari, then mix together. Let sit in the bowl for 5-10 minutes to soften the oats before scooping out into a 9x5 greased loaf pan and pressing down to make an even loaf.
Place the loaf into a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the edges start browning and the loaf has cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before flipping onto a serving platter and slicing. Serve with your gravy and sides of choice for a satisfying, homey meal!
I think I could stand to do a little tweaking of ingredients to get the loaf to hold together even better, but I was quite pleased with the results. The flavor was nice and savory, and of course the mushroom gravy made it even better. You can make the loaf without it, but I do recommend some kind of sauce to put on top just to add some moisture to the bite. We also had some gravy on the roasted veggies because ,why not?
And don't worry, though the rest of the servings won't be so neat and tidy, the BF and I will finish every last crumb of the salvaged loaf. Luckily I wasn't planning on serving to anyone else...this time!
Happy December my friends! May you make the most out of the remaining days of 2020, and overcome any flops that come your way with grace and perhaps a bit of gravy. 😉
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://plantstoplanks.com/lentil-veggie-loaf-with-homemade-mushroom-gravy/