Healthy Recipes – Making Vegan Meatloaf (VIDEO)

Healthy Recipes – Making Vegan Meatloaf – as part of the expert series by GeoBeats.

Hi, I am Rebecca Corby with Green Island Catering. Today, I am going to show you how to make a delicious vegan holiday meal. This is perfect for a main meal. This is a vegan meatloaf. This particular meatloaf, I use lentils for the base. Now, these are just some regular lentils I got at the regular grocery store. They are kind of a greenish brown variety. There are dozens of different types of lentils, so you can feel free to use whichever kind you like. Now, lentils are a really great source of protein, fiber, iron. And a little known fact about lentils, is they also contain the amino acid, tryptophan. And that is the substance that is known for giving you that really calming, really full, and some would say even sleepy feeling after eating them. So lentils are going to make this dish really satisfying, really nourishing, and healthy.

Now, some other things you can add to your vegan meatloaf are some mushrooms and onions, and you would want to sautee those first. I have also added some oats, some Italian seasoning, and some whole grain bread crumbs. Now, if you wanted to make this gluten free, you could just use some brown rice instead of the bread crumbs. You could also add some other vegetables, like some shredded carrots or zuchinni are are really nice. And what you want to do is when you get all your ingredients together, and your cooked lentils, you are going to place it into a food processor, and just pulse it. That is going to break down the texture, so it kinda resembles, like, the ground beef.

Now let us talk about some seasonings you might wanna add to flavor your meatloaf. You can use some Italian seasoning, you could add some garlic, some black pepper. If you want a little kick, you could add some Cayenne Pepper. Just make sure, just use a little, and taste it first, because it is very potent. Um, you can add some soy sauce, that is also going to give it a darker color as well. And if you want to splurge, this is a really great product. This is a vegan Worcestershire sauce. This is the only thing I had to get at a specialty store, so it is optional. You do not have to use it. But it does give that really traditional meatloaf flavor. And I like to add a little bit of Dijon mustard as well. And again, when you are making this meatloaf, since there is no raw meat, the great thing is, you can just taste it as you go along, and add your own seasonings according to your taste.

Now, after you have mixed up your meatloaf really well, and it is holding together, you are going to want to press it into your pan. Most meatloafs use a bread pan. And just press it in, cover it with foil, and bake it in the oven until it is nice and brown. When it comes out, it is ready for you to slice, and this would be delicious served with a vegan mushroom gravy and some mashed potatoes.