Laura G Manifold

A delicious meal that’s easy and inexpensive to make. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lentils

3 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth (I recommend Pacific Food vegetarian broth – super savory)

2 onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cups pre-cooked rice (I use brown.)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning 

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large soup or stock pot, simmer the lentils in water or vegetable broth until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly then mash the lentils until they are half mashed.

Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft.

Combine the onions, garlic and olive oil with the mashed lentils and add the rice, salt, ketchup or barbecue sauce, sage, and Italian seasoning.

Gently press the mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan. Drizzle a bit of extra ketchup on top if desired.  I also like to add some nutritional yeast to the top to make it just a little bit crunchy.

Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving, as this will help the lentil loaf to firm up.

I like to serve it with vegan mashed potatoes and sautéd veggies (marinated in Braggs raw apple cider vinegar, olive oil, kosher salt and oregano).

Note:  I sometimes add a bit of whatever I have in the fridge that I need to get rid of – carrots, leeks, peppers, fennel.  Just make sure you slice them very thinly or dice them well.  Also, if you like a little spice, add some hot sauce to the ketchup.  I’ve done it before with harissa (a Tunisian hot sauce) great results.

 It also makes great leftovers for sandwiches.