How to Create a Plant Based Holiday Feast pt 3 Lentil Loaf
If you live in the US Thanksgiving is almost here! But it’s okay because these past two weeks have been nothing but tips and tricks to help you make this Holiday as easy as possible. If you missed it, here’s how to create a plant-based holiday feast part 1 and part 2.
Let’s take a closer look at the day of your holiday. One of the assignments we had to do in culinary is making what’s called a timeline. A timeline is a sheet of paper or excel sheet where you organize when something is getting done and how long it’s going to take. So I know I’ve broken down every part of these recipes into easy, manageable steps but I want to make sure you know that your Holiday is going to be a stress free as possible so I am giving you a sample timeline of what the last day is going to look like.
Estimated Dinner time is 4:00 PM
10:00 AM: Make yourself breakfast, you deserve it.
11:00 AM: Enjoy a cup of coffee/tea/ hot chocolate with optional whipped cream
1:30 PM: Preheat oven and pick out what you want to wear
1:50 PM: Bake your lentil loaf, take a shower, do your hair, make yourself feel beautiful
2:35 PM: Remove your lentil loaf and turn the oven up
2:40 PM: Roast your vegetables, whilst roasting your vegetables change your clothes
2:55 PM: Make the miso maple glaze
3:00 PM: Remove your vegetables and toss your carrots in your glaze, turn oven to warm
3:15 PM: Cover the lentil loaf and carrots to prevent them from drying out and put them in the warm oven
3:15 PM: Make your mashed potatoes, once done, cover the pot to keep them warm
3:20 PM: Wrangle a family member to set the table
3:45 PM: Make your gravy and pour into an ugly antique gravy boat
3:55 PM: Place all the food on the table
4:00 PM: Gather the troops and enjoy your feast!
Today is also the last piece of the holiday puzzle, where I give you the recipe for a lentil loaf that is French-inspired with loads of fresh herbs and topped with caramelized onions. However, if you like a more American lentil loaf, feel free to add some mushrooms for a meatier flavor to the lentil loaf mix, and use ketchup instead of Dijon mustard. Coat the top in the ketchup and bake as you normally would.
This lentil loaf is forgiving and fluid because people’s tastes are. The goal of this Thanksgiving and holiday series was to create a menu of easy to complete recipes for a show-stopping holiday. This lentil loaf is also wonderful because it can be made up until the final baking and frozen to be baked right before dinner. Just bump up the cooking time to between an hour and an hour and a half.
Here is our menu again, each with a link to the recipe.
Menu
Lentil loaf with gravy
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan crust
I hope this holiday series has helped you and you feel confident going into this season with joy and gratitude for all of the delicious flavors and abundance the plant kingdom provides.
Holiday Herbaceous Lentil Loaf with Gravy
Ali Lawrence | 11/22/19
- prep time: 40 mintues
- cook time: 45 minutes
- total time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 small apple, grated
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 leaves of sage
- 6 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed
- 1/2 C parsley, chopped
- ¾ Cup plant-based bread crumbs
- ¼ cup vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Cup of lentils, dried. (You only need 4 cups of lentils cooked)
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
For the top
- Caramelized onions for the top
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 thyme sprigs
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Gravy
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
- ½ cup non-dairy milk of choice
- 2 tbsp flour or cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp mixed herbs of choice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
For the Caramelized Onions
- Heat a medium pan on low. Put 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan.
- Cut one medium to large onion by slicing the onion in half, peeling it and slicing thin half moons.
- Place the onions in the pan without salting them and cook on low, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown. (Avoid going too dark as they might burn in the oven).
For the Lentil Loaf
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat a pot on medium to high heat, bringing water to a boil, salt the water generously. Add two cups of dried lentils to the pot and cook them until tender. (Slightly al dente). Once tender, drain the lentils and let cool slightly.
- Dice the medium onion into small pieces. Separately, chop the herbs finely.
- Heat a pan on medium heat and add the olive oil to the pan. Cook the onions, adding a small pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are translucent and tender. Add the chopped herbs, garlic and grated apple. Cook for two more minutes just to cook off some of the water from the apple. Stir occasionally.
- While the onions are cooking, lightly mash the lentils using a potato masher or popping them into a food processor or blender until some of the pieces are broken down but there are still some whole lentils in the mix.
- Once the onion an apple mixture is done cooking, add that to the lentils along with the remaining ingredients. Mix until everything is fully incorporated and the mixture holds its shape when pressed together firmly. If it’s too dry, add a bit more vegetable stock. If it’s too wet, add more breadcrumbs, a tablespoon at a time.
- Shape the mixture into a loaf, pressing firmly in either a well greased loaf pan or onto a sheet of parchment paper. Don’t be afraid to really pack the lentil loaf together.
- Mix together the topping ingredients and spread evenly onto the top of the loaf. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and heated through.
For the Gravy
- Heat the vegetable stock in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Mix together the non-dairy milk and cornstarch to make a slurry.
- Whisk the slurry into the vegetable stock. Bring back to a boil and cook until your desired consistency. Season to taste, and add the mixed herbs.
- Serve with lentil loaf and mashed potatoes