Update: March 17, 2013 – This recipe is now gluten-free, so long as GF rolled oats are used. It also can be made soy-free by choosing a miso made from another legume.

On the shockingly long list of vegan staples I’ve never tried making at home is the humble lentil loaf. Kind of a vegan stereotype of sorts, but one I’ve rarely encountered in person. I actually rather like the idea of a lentil loaf. Green lentils have a nice, earthy taste and I feel they pair well with walnuts & quinoa for a protein dense, rich loaf.

Great Vow has a nut loaf they make for special occasions, however, it is based around the use of eggs as a binder, so no luck in looking to that recipe for much inspiration. Online the recipes are hugely varied, to such a degree it is hard to find something that sounds right. After a lot of reading and recalling the meatloaf my Mom used to make, I came up with a very tasty dish.

It crumbles a little coming out of the pan, but not too much. Slices pretty well and we found it very satisfying, particularly when served alongside the very last of the amazing mashed potatoes Christie made for Thanksgiving. I’m going to be working on an entirely gluten-free version of this dish next.

The Stuff (for loaf)

• 1 small onion
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 cups cooked, green lentils (overcooked is better, should be mushy/mashed)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (gluten-free)
• 2 tablespoon red miso (**possible to substitute chickpea or lima miso to make soy-free)
• 1/3c flax meal whisked together with 1/3 c water
• 3 T tomato paste (taken from a 6oz can)
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 t sweet paprika
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t dried marjoram
• 2 T fresh parsley

The Making (the loaf)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk together the flaxseed meal and water in a large bowl, set aside. Dice onion and celery small, and mince the garlic cloves. Sauté the onion, garlic and celery until onion begins to caramelize. Add sauteed vegetables and remaining ingredients into large bowl with flax/water mixture and mix well. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and fill the loaf pan with the mixture. Press down and top with tangy tomato sauce.

The Stuff (the sauce)

• remainder of tomato paste from 6oz can
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 t sweet paprika
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/4 t or less ground clove
• 1 T  water

The Making (the sauce & the loaf)

Whisk together all ingredients for sauce and spread on top of loaf before baking. Cover loaf pan with foil, it is alright that the sauce will smear a bit.

Bake loaf 30 minutes covered, remove foil. Bake 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

thanks, sherri, for putting me on the list! i’ve been lurking here a while stealing recipes, and i thought it was just about time i gave something back…

This dish is made extra quick and easy since it uses lots of canned items. In fact, this is such a quickie I’m feeling a smidge guilty for posting it. However, since Amy’s asked for more lentil ideas and Christie asked me to jot down what I did, here it is!

2 15oz cans of lentils drained and rinsed
1 7oz can of diced green chilies
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon sweet, smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Sriracha sauce to taste

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for at least 20 minutes for the flavors to “marry”. Yep, that’s it. Put this in tortillas with salsa and greens for tacos or burritos. Serve as a topping to steamed grains, potatoes or yams.

Yes, I suggest Sriracha to give some heat to this dish, just add as much or as little as you like. I find in small amounts it adds a brightness and just a little heat to any dish, plus sometimes seems more easy to control than using powdered, hot chilies.

Except for the lentils you can really wing it with this recipe (really more a “suggestion” than a “recipe”). Heck you could even wing the legumes and use garbanzos, pintos, red beans… you get the picture. By all means, if you don’t want to use canned legumes, don’t. Just make the legumes first and use them drained — about 3 cups or so.

Add more or use less cumin if you want. A squeeze of lime would be great in this. Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves chopped up and added on top would be lovely (our’s had gone nasty in the fridge… ooops). Leave out the green chilies if you don’t have them. Add some mustard seed, powdered coriander, tumeric, ginger and black pepper (or just some garam masala) to start taking this more of an Indian dal direction.

A pudi, or “Powder” in Hindi, is part spice blend and part thickener used in many Indian dishes, especially soups or stews. Rather than breaking down all the spices, grains and legumes at the time of cooking a dish, like sambar, they are mixed together in a fine powder that can then be added when needed to a dish.

This particular pudi is used to thicken and richly flavor sambar, a lentil stew.

2 teaspoons chana dal
1 teaspoon red lentils
1 teaspoon brown lentils or yellow split peas
1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
2 Tablespoons coriander seeds
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 Tablespoon long-grain rice, raw
2-inches cinnamon stick
20 fresh kari leaves (or 1 teaspoon crushed, dried)
3 dried red chilies (stemmed, seeded, broken into pieces)

Preheat a large skillet, add all ingredients and toast over a medium heat until the mixture is very aromatic and the rice has toasted brown.

Cool mixture and grind into a fine powder*

Sambar pudi will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 months in an airtight, glass jar. 3 months if kept unrefrigerated.

*I have found that a small, electric coffee grinder works nicely. Run a tablespoon or two of raw, white rice through first to clear out coffee residue. After grinding pudi run more raw rice to clean again.

Still, no pictures. Really, I will get better about this. I also realize that it is December and Diwali is many weeks past now, but I am at least going to get my recipe for sambar posted!

Sambar, a lentil stew very popular in India, is one of my favorite dishes. Over the past few years I’ve been learning to make some of the foods I most enjoy. I try to read many recipes and if it is a dish I eat at a restaurant, I try to pay close attention to what I enjoy (or sometimes dislike) about the dish. After aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower, Indian style), sambar is high on my list of favorite Indian dishes.

The third part of my recipe, the oil and spices added at the end, is derived from the one in the Laxmi’s Vegetarian Kitchen cookbook. I really find this flavor to be so nice that I haven’t varied it much. In looking at other recipes this does seem to be pretty standard, a few differences here and there (more chilies, some other spices).

DO make the effort to get toor dal and fresh kari leaves (I like shopping for Desi items at India-4-U)! These particular details are part of what will make this dish taste like Indian home cooking. There are many steps to this dish and one step involves hot oil (very exciting), it is entirely worth the effort. I am very pleased to share that my sambar leaves my co-workers from Chennai smiling and happy!

This makes a huge amount of sambar — I often make it for office potlucks (like the one for Diwali this year). It freezes quite nicely too!

Sambar
makes 4 quarts

Step One — The Toor Dal

• 2 cups toor dal
• 5 cups water

Wash lentils and put into pot with water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until lentils are soft. The lentils will begin to break apart. If you are using a pressure cooker, the toor dal cook in 8 minutes.

The lentils are pre-cooked; half will be used immediately in the stew and will thicken it. The other half will be added at the end for more texture.

Step Two — The Stew Base

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup carrot in 1/4″ rounds
• 3 cup chopped cauliflower (Romanesco broccoli is also nice)
• 2 1/2 cups chopped, fresh tomatoes (yes, canned is OK, but if you have fresh, use them, it is worth the effort)
• 1 cup green beans, snapped into 1″ pieces
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
• 2 teaspoon sea salt (more or less, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cane sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Sambar Pudi
• 2 Tablespoons tamarind paste (e.g. Tamco Tamarind)

Add water and chopped vegetables to large stock pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add half the toor dal, half the fresh coriander, salt, sugar, sambar pudi, tamarind, and stir well. Simmer, covered until vegetables are tender.

Step Three — The Exciting Part!

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 4 dried, red chilies – stemmed, seeded and broken into 1″ pieces (more or less of these to change the heat level of the stew)
• 30 fresh kari leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Heat oil in pan, add seeds and chilies and fry until spices are fragrant (mustard seeds may begin to pop). Add in turmeric and quickly incorporate. Add kari leaves in last (these will make quite a lot of noise as they fry in the hot oil, a splatter shield is useful). After leaves are frying scrape all spices into the pot of vegetables and lentils (again, there will be quite a lot of noise as the hot oil hits the stew).

Simmer the sambar for at least 15 minutes more to allow the spices, lentils and vegetables come together. Stir in the remaining toor dal & fresh coriander and allow to simmer again for 5 minutes before serving.

Garnish with additional fresh coriander. Serve with rice, cream of wheat pilafs, and pappadum.

Keep in mind folks that I don’t really follow a recipe, but let your taste buds be your guide and customize this hearty and delicious soup to suit your needs and desires. The weather will soon be perfect for eating this often.

2-3 Cups of a combination chopped onion, chopped celery and chopped carrots. Use the proportions that make you happy
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 TBLSP crushed garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried or fresh cilantro
1 Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
Salt to taste (sea salt works best)
2 cups red lentils
8-12 cups of water
1/2 pkg Frozen O’Brien Potatoes
Tapatio or your favorite hot sauce

In a mongo sized stock pot over medium to medium high heat, add olive oil, celery, onion, carrots and a dash of salt and cook until tender. Add spices and stir, cooking mixture for 2-3 minutes before adding lentils and water. I use enough water to fill the stock pot 2/3 of the way full. Add salt and simmer for about 30 minutes stirring often to facilitate the blending of flavors. Add O’Brien Potatoes and more salt. When lentils have completely broken down, add tapatio to your favorite level of heat, find the pesky bay leaf and remove it, then serve.