Lentils, it’s what’s for dinner!

I've been neglecting my crafting duties, I know. I've done very little besides re-cover my old sewing box---which I have been so proud of I've let that ride for a week as my "project" even though it took like 20 minutes to do. I'll post pictures soon enough. I have a meeting with the sewing group on Tuesday, so I better get crack-a-lackin' on something. I'm not really worried. I have about a zillion and a half projects that I'd like to start on. I've just been pre-occupied with other crafty endeavors that do not involve the sewing needle. Mainly, cooking.

With the garden full on its way, I've been doing some recipe reading. In the process, I came across a great recipe for Vegetarian Meatloaf. N. James had been craving meatloaf for about a week and I had been putting off making it. There is just something about squishing around a bunch of random condiments in hamburger meat that I didn't find very appealing. I finally decided to make it and I was doing some thinking about what A. James and I would eat. I toyed with the idea of a Vegetarian Meatloaf, but very honestly I didn't actually think that it would exist and if one did happen to exist---I didn't see how it could be very tasty. I searched my go-to recipe websites Recipezaar and AllRecipes and found this one.

I was so impressed!

I altered the recipe slightly, cooked it longer---but it was very tasty! Even N. James thought so. Very honestly I thought it was one of the best tasting meatloaves I had ever had! If you'd like to try it, here is the recipe I followed.
 

Lentil Loaf or Vegetarian Meatloaf
adapted from Recipe #33921 on Recipezaar

2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup lentils
1 small onion, cut into wedges
½ cup chopped celery
6 cloves garlic
¾ cup cooking oats
¼ cup wheat germ (you can also just use 1 cup cooking oats if you don't have wheat germ on hand)
¾ cup grated cheese (I used Mexican, but you can use anything)
1 egg
4 oz ketchup
2 oz BBQ sauce (you can just add in 6 oz of Ketchup (or even salsa) if you prefer)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 TBSP dried parsley
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp Italian Seasoning or Basil

Geesh that seems like a lot of ingredients, but it is mostly the spices—I guess.

1) Bring your water to a boil. Add in the 1tsp of salt. Then dump in your lentils. Let simmer covered for around 25-30 minutes or until lentils are soft.
2) In the meantime, put a few drops of olive oil into a pan. Dump in your onions, celery and garlic. Sauté these until golden brown.
3) Here is where a food processor comes in very handy if you have one. I suppose a blender would work well too. Add in your onions, celery, garlic and lentils (drain these first). Mash them up in your processor or blender.
4) Throw in the egg, sauces, cheese and seasonings. Mash these up too until you have a disgusting looking mess.

5) Spoon this into a GREASED loaf pan. This is what I did, however---I think they would cook better if you scooped them into muffin/cupcake pans and made mini Lentil Loafs.
6) Put your oven on 350 and cook for (directions say 45 minutes, but mine cooked for about an hour as a loaf, maybe 45 if you made the mini loafs).
7) Top with ketchup and enjoy!