This nutrient-packed comforting meal from the Dreena’s Kind Kitchen cookbook offers plenty of Italian-style herbs and an infusion of flavors from balsamic vinegar, tahini, and tamari sauce. Serve with fluffy mashed potatoes and garlicky green beans for a complete meal.
What you need:
2 cups cooked brown lentils, divided
1 cup cooked sweet potato flesh, cooled
½ cup cooked red or Yukon Gold potato flesh, cooled
1 clove garlic, peeled
¼ cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons flax meal
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon tahini
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups rolled oats
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
4 tablespoons ketchup or barbecue sauce, for topping
What you do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper, letting paper overhang sides of dish.
- Into a food processor, combine 1 cup lentils, potatoes, garlic, tomato paste, tamari, onion flakes, flax meal, balsamic, tahini, oregano, thyme, celery seed, and black pepper. Pulse until well combined but not blended. Add remaining 1 cup lentils, oats, and pumpkin seeds and pulse a couple of times, scraping down bowl as needed, until mixture is fairly well combined but still has texture—taking care not to overprocess. Remove blade and use a silicone spatula to mix once more by hand.
- Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan. Smooth out with a spatula to evenly distribute in dish. Using the same spatula, spread ketchup or barbecue sauce on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake another 6 to 7 minutes, until topping is set. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 10 minutes. Lift loaf out of dish using parchment. Slice and serve.
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