My husband and I really enjoy Amy’s veggie loaf frozen dinner.

The only reason I can figure that it isn’t advertised as being vegan is the addition of honey somewhere in the meal.  I don’t consider honey to be vegan (some vegans still eat it regularly), but I will eat it on a rare occasion in a commercially-made product.  Why is honey not vegan, you may be asking yourself?  Well, honey is food that bees make for themselves, not for me.  That’s why I don’t eat it.

Anyway, before I get completely off track, I was craving it last night (really, I was craving something with gravy on top accompanied by mashed potatoes).  I got all the ingredients and using the Magical Loaf Studio, I put together a recipe.  The Magical Loaf Studio is not working the way it’s meant to, but I did find the basic gist of making a loaf.  Now, for some reason, I can’t even find that.  Well, here’s how I made mine.

Lentil Loaf

2 cups cooked lentils, I used green (cook up 1 cup of dry lentils and you should get around 2 cups)

1 cup cooked quinoa (again, cook up 1/2 a cup and you should get around 1 cup)

1/2 cup nuts & seeds, I used 1/4 cup sunflower and 1/4 cup pecans.  Pulse them in a food processor until coarsely ground.

2-3 TB flax meal

1 TB soy sauce

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

5 TB ketchup

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 large carrot, diced

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the pan that you intend to cook your loaf in.  Size doesn’t matter; although, I read that an 8×8 pan makes for a crispier loaf.  I used the 8×8 pan.

Saute all the veggies in a little olive oil until tender.  Add the veggies along with everything else into a mixing bowl and combine.  If the mixture is too dry, add up to 1/2 cup of liquid.  This is where I messed up,  I think, because I didn’t use any liquid and my loaf was pretty crumbly.  Stock, broth or soy milk (unsweetened, of course), ought to do it.

Put mixture into your pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before cutting.  To cut, invert the loaf onto a plate or platter (so as not to scratch up your baking dish when you cut it).

My loaf, although a bit crumbly, was really tasty.  Even the kiddo ate it, albeit reluctantly at first.  I normally make my own gravy, but since I was making everything else from scratch, I opted for the mix that comes in the little packets.  I know, I know.  But, the one I bought was vegan and didn’t have anything weird in it.  Actually, it had pretty much everything in it that I would have put in it anyway, so maybe it’s not so bad.  The brand is Road’s End and I used the “savory herb” variety.  You can find it in the spice aisle of Whole Foods (for a measly 89 cents!).  It was pretty darn good, too.