Lentil Loaf!

Every time I say this Dave laughs. I have to agree. The two words just don't go together. I have to say that I went out on a limb on this one. I have had lentils in the cubbard for quite a while. Since we were going away for the week (I"ll dedicate an entire post to our vacation) I wanted to not go to the grocery store and use up what we had. We did a really good job clearing out the freezer but I just can't seem to get through the corner cubbard that seems to open into the black hole of canned and packaged products.

Lentils have been on my mind and I just couldn't seem to find a recipe that sparked my interest. Kate our neighbor is always making the most amazing meals out of grains and dried beans and I have been quizzing her on her recipes. Finally I found this Vegetarian Meatloaf recipe after talking to her about what I could do with these little round/flat dried things. In my obsessive search of food blogs I found this blog and really find her recipes to be quite intriguing. The author is a bit more "vegetarian schooled" them me. You will see that she uses nutritional yeast and flax seed in the recipe. I decided on adding cheese instead!! I would lump her in the Kate category. Someday I will get there! So here is my take on the Lentil Loaf!

2 C water
1 t salt
3/4 C lentils (I think I used more and increased the water)
1 onion diced
1/2 C oats
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
3/4 C tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
1 t dried basil (I think I used an Italian seasoning)
1 T fresh parsley chopped
1/2 t ground pepper
1/4 C shredded mozzarella
2 T grated parm

Boil water and add lentils. Cook covered until tender, about 30 minutes or more. I didn't have to drain too much water but you may have to. I think I even added a little more water towards the end because they were drying up. Drain and mash with a potato masher. Mix lentils with onions, oats, and bread crumbs. Add egg , tomato sauce, and spices. Spoon into a loaf pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake covered at 350 degrees about 40 minutes until firm. Cool 10 minutes and then turn out onto a platter.

Top with glaze 1/2 cup tomato sauce + 1 T brown sugar.