Vegan Meatloaf

With colder months upon us, I know that I start craving more comfort foods. There’s something about meatloaf that is very warming on a cold winter night, and paired with mashed potatoes and gravy you can have a very hearty meal. This vegan meatloaf keeps pretty well, too. You can make it days ahead of time and just reheat wrapped in aluminum foil so it doesn’t dry out!

Serves 4
For the meatloaf:
1 cups diced onions
1 cups celery,minced
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
4 cloves garlic minced
1/8 cup tamari
zest of 1/2 lemon
3 Tablespoons psyllium husk
1 Tablespoons chopped thyme
1 Tablespoons dried oregano
1 Tablespoons diced chive
1 cups GF bread crumbs* or gluten free oats
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 1/2 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned
2 1/2 cups lentils, cooked
Salt to taste
½ cup BBQ sauce (you can use store bought or we love this recipe from Oh She Glows!)

*To make the GF bread crumbs, take a loaf of GF bread and toast a few slices very lightly, just enough to dry them out. Break the bread into pieces and pulse in your food processor until they are broken up into crumbs.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Puree the lentils and chickpeas lightly in in a food processor. Fold in the onions, celery, carrot, gf bread crumbs, psyllium, seasoning, garlic, lemon zest, herbs and tamari. Mix well until fully incorporated. Form into loaves in a loaf pan. Make sure to pack it tightly into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully release from the loaf pan. Cover in BBQ sauce or ketchup and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove and allow to rest before serving.
Note: This works best in smaller loaf pans like 4″ x  2″, as it sets up better. A half sized loaf pan works very well.

For the mashed potatoes:
3 medium yukon gold potatoes, and cut into large chunks
2 Tablespoons vegan “butter” (like Earth Balance or what ever brand you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup almond milk, hemp milk or other milk substitute of choice

Boil a large pot of water and cook the potatoes until fork tender (about 15-20 minutes). Drain the potatoes. With a hand mixer, potato masher or stand mixer, mash or whip the potatoes until as smooth or chunky as desired. Mix in the vegan butter and almond milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the gravy:
1/2 cups coconut oil
1/2 onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all purpose flour (This gravy can be made gluten free if you desire by using gluten free all purpose flour from Bob’s Red Mill)
1/8 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 cup tamari
2 cups vegetable stock, or more as needed (depending on how you like the consistency)
Oregano and white pepper to taste

In a sauce pan heat the coconut oil until it is melted. Next add the flour and cook on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes to make a roux, stirring with a whisk very frequently.
Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking well so the lumps come out and cook for another 15-20 minutes until thick.

For the onion rings:
1 large onion, skinned and cut into fat rings
1/2 cup Bob’s All Purpose GF Flour
1/2 cup water
pinch salt
1″ oil for frying

To make the batter for the onion rings, whisk together the GF flour, salt and water. Heat about 1″ of oil to about 365 degrees F. When we say 1″ of oil, the actual quantity will depend on the size of the pan you are frying in. You will use less oil with a smaller pan, but will also be able to fry fewer onion rings at once. Dip the onion rings into the batter until both sides are coated and put into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and salt immediately.

To serve, we love to pair this with grilled or roasted seasonal vegetables. Pictured are grilled asparagus, but you could substitute roasted carrots, brussels sprouts, or broccoli. Add some cranberry sauce or relish and you could have this for Thanksgiving.

 

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