Vegetarian Meatloaf (really good! really!)

 

I've had great results with this recipe. Even meat eaters and kids that I have made this for have inhaled it. I like to serve it with gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas. It's also great with my thyme yorkshire puddings. I also think that it would be a perfect protein dish for thanksgiving if you are expecting vegetarians.

Vegetarian Meatloaf

          2 cups water

          1 tsp salt

          1 cup brown lentils (wash and check for small rocks)

          1 medium onion, diced

          1 cup quick-cooking oats

          3/4 cup grated cheese (use a flavorful cheese)

          1 egg, beaten

          4 1/2 oz tomato sauce or spagetti sauce

          1 tsp garlic powder

          1 tsp dried basil

          1 tbs dried parsley

          1/2 tsp seasoning salt

          1/2 tsp black pepper

Bring salted water to a boil. Add lentils and simmer, covered for 25-30 min (until lentils have absorbed most of the water). 

Remove from pan, drain, and mash lentils in a mixing bowl. Set aside and let lentils cool a bit. 

Stir in onions, oats, and cheese until well mixed.

Add egg, tomato sauce, and the remaining seasonings and mix well.

Spoon into a well greased loaf pan.

Smooth with back of spoon.

Bake at 350*F for 30 - 45 min or until top of loaf is firm, dry, and golden brown.

Cool in pan, on rack for 10 min.

recipe source:  http://www.food.com

Not only is this recipe a fabulous comfort food, it's also extremely nutritious. Lentils are made up fo 25% protein. They are cholesterol free, virtually fat free, and low in calories. Lentils are high in folate, iron (perfect if you do have a bun in the oven) and high in fiber.

Garlic Broccoli (& friends)

I don't know about you but my favorite thing to get at a Chinese restaurant is Garlic Broccoli. It's my favorite way to eat broccoli and it makes me crave it. I decided that I had to find a way to make it at home. This recipe is not only quick and easy, but tastes like it's fresh out of the take out carton of your favorite Chinese restaurant. YUM!

Garlic Broccoli

is ready in 30 min!

serves 4

3 medium heads of broccoli, washed and chopped

1 head of garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup sweetener (i use unbleached sugar)

2 tbs corn starch

2 cups of cooked white rice to serve with broccoli

Bring the vegetable stock to a boil and add the garlic, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper, and sweetener. Dissolve the cornstarch in 4 tbs of cold water.

Cook the broccoli over high heat, in a large skillet or wok. After 2 min add the garlic sauce and continue cooking for 7-10 min. Add the cornstarch mixture, stir to distribute, and cook for 1 -2 more min until it thickens.

Serve immediately over your already cooked rice.

Reccomendations:

* Use the broccoli stalk! Simply peel it (this makes it nice and tender) and slice it thinly. Try it at least once! It will change the way you eat broccoli.

* You don't have to use all broccoli. I also used carrots, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. I would love to use tofu in this dish. or snow peas. The combinations you can use are endless. Just make sure that you use approx the amount that 3 heads of broccoli would be. Maybe a little less because you want to have lots of sauce.

*If you use honey for your sweetener just remember that it's sweeter per volume than sugar. So go easy.

*Also you can omit the ginger and red pepper flakes if you want. Be especially careful with the ginger though. I used a "fresher" ginger one of the times I made this and it was so strong. I called it ginger broccoli that night. All I'm sayin' is...be careful with the ginger. It can easily over power this dish.

And then you can feel good about feeding it to your little ones because broccoli is full of iron, fiber, potassium, and has a ton of vitamin C, and a ton of Calcium. My little one loves this dish.

thyme for yorkshire pudding

Recently I made Claire Robinson's "Thyme for Yorkshire Pudding" recipe. I had never had a yorkshire pudding before so I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out but these actually turned out quite tasty. I served them with a vegetarian meatloaf and brown gravy. delicious. Here is my vegetarianized version:

1 tsp salt

1 c flour

1 1/4 c milk

3 eggs (beaten)

2 tbs fresh thyme

1/4 c olive oil

Sift the salt and flour into your bowl. Stir in the eggs and half of the milk, whisking until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and the thyme. Let the batter sit in a covered bowl for 30 - 45 min.

Heat your oven to 400*. Divide your oil into a 12 cup muffin pan. Heat the oil in the muffin pan until it is almost smoking hot. (Be sure to place a cookie sheet under your pan to prevent the hot oil from dripping into your oven.) Remove your pan from the oven.

Quickly whisk the batter one last time and pour into each cup 3/4 of the way full. Bake in the oven for approx. 20 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Leave them in the oven for at least 5 minutes to let them set. (Try not to open the oven while they are cooking!)

Serve while hot and puffed.

(this was a great recipe to vegetarianize. i used roasted garlic olive oil for extra flavor since the flavor usually comes from the meat drippings. i even used dried thyme although i am sure that it would be better with fresh.)