The Lentil Loaf recipe that I found eons ago in a Canadian Living magazine is a versatile staple in my Vegetarian lifestyle: sometimes I bake it in a loaf pan, make a Cashew Nut Sauce to go with it; sometimes I scoop the mixture into a muffin tin for single serving portions, wrap ’em up, freeze ’em and use ’em when I need ’em; and finally, my fave, I use it as a base for Shepherd’s Pie.
Versatile Lentil Loaf
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups Red Lentils, washed and well drained
3 cups Vegetable Broth
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2/3 cup Bread Crumbs
1 Tomato, chopped
2 + teaspoons Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, lightly beaten (optional)
1/4 cup Water
5 – 6 potatoes
Heat olive oil in a medium size saucepan with tight fitting lid.
Cook onion in heated oil for 2 – 3 minutes; add garlic and continue cooking for another few minutes.
Stir in lentils until coated.
Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered for about 30 minutes until lentils are tender.
Remove from heat, stir well, mashing any whole lentils remaining.
Stir in lemon juice, bread crumbs, tomatoes, basil and salt, water and egg, if using.
If making Shepherd’s Pie, Cook potatoes now to make your favourite Mashed Potatoes
Preheat oven to 350F now.
Prepare an 8x4inch loaf pan; spray lightly with vegetable oil spray.
or
Prepare Muffin tin; spray 12 large muffin cups with vegetable oil spray
or
Prepare 4 Ramekins: spray lightly with vegetable oil spray
Scoop Lentil Mixture into your baking dish(es)
If making Shepherd’s Pie, top Lentil Mixture with a layer of Frozen Peas or Frozen Mixed Vegetables and top with Mashed Potatoes.
Bake in 350F:
Loaf – 1 1/2 hours, until knife inserted comes out clean
Muffin Tin – 40 – 45 minutes, until pick inserted comes out clean
Shepherd’s Pie – 35 – 45 minutes, until Lentil layer is Bubbly and Potato topping is golden.
For an unconventional Shepherd’s Pie, coz my Aussie Husband dislikes Mashed Potatoes! (shakes head, who doesn’t like mashed potatoes??)
I parboiled some baby potatoes, drained, sliced and threw them onto a layer of Frozen Peas on top of the Lentil Mixture. Before baking for 30 minutes, I lightly brushed the potatoes with some melted butter and sprinkled the whole thing with fresh ground Pepper and a bit of dried basil.
Unconventional Shepherds Pie
Oh my goodness! I clipped this recipe out of the Vancouver Sun a gazillion years ago and made it quite often when the kids were growing up, though minus the Mushroom Sauce. ( I have two kids who have a strong dislike for mushrooms…one, because the underside looks like gills! ) No worries there though because you can easily sub in another flavour of condensed soup: Cream of Celery, Broccoli Cheddar, Cream of Asparagus, Cream of Broccoli.
Don’t eat meat? No worries there either; sub in Yves Just Like Ground Round.
Don’t do Dairy? Sub in Soy Cheese, Salsa for the Cream of Mushroom Soup, add a few Tablespoons of Sliced Black Olives, a Tablespoon of Adobo Seasoning omit the Chopped Celery and sub in some Corn Niblets and you have yourself a Mexican Style Fiesta Ring! Too easy!
Now the original recipe called for the biscuit ring to be made from Bisquick mix….I think I bought that stuff once! I just use my resourceful Baking Powder Biscuit Recipe! Especially easy if you have a Kitchenaide Mixer! Throw everything into the mixer (by everything I mean all the powdery stuff) Mix on low to incorporate; add cubed, cold shortening or butter and turn on low again for about 2 minutes until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then add milk (soy milk) and stir on low speed JUST until combined. Turn out onto floured surface and knead gently about 10 times and roll out dough. Easy peasy.
Oh, and you will see in the photo that I cheat and add Frozen French Fries right on the same baking sheet as the Cheeseburger Ring…just make a salad while this is baking and call dinner preparation Done!
Cheeseburger Ring – A nice twist for using Ground Beef
Biscuit Dough using Baking Powder Biscuit Recipe or:
3 cups Bisquick Mix
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Soy Cheddar)
3/4 cup Milk (Plain Almond or Soy Milk) Filling:
1/2 pound Ground Beef (1 package Yves Just Like Ground Round)
1/4 cup finely chopped Celery
1/4 cup diced Onion
2 Tablespoons each finely chopped Green and Red Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Pepper, to taste
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (Soy Cheddar)
1/4 cup Cream of Mushroom Soup Mushroom Sauce:
Remaining Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Milk (Plain Soy or Almond Milk)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (Omit if Vegan)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Biscuit Dough:
Mix Bisquick and cheese together.
Gradually blend in milk, stirring with a fork to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times.
Roll into a 14″x10″ rectangle.
Filling:
In a large skillet, with a bit of olive oil, saute onions until soft.
Add chopped celery, finely chopped peppers and ground beef (Just Like Ground Round) breaking up meat with a wooden spoon.
Cook and stir frequently until evenly browned.
Stir in remaining ingredients and heat until cheese melts.
Turn oven on to preheat to 400F.
Line a baking sheet with Parchment paper or spray lightly with vegetable oil spray and dust lightly with cornmeal.
Carefully spread onto prepared dough.
Roll up like a jelly roll, starting from the longer side.
Shape into a ring.
Place on prepared baking sheet.
Slash with a sharp knife, 3/4 of the way through ring, at 1inch intervals.
Bake in 400F. oven for 15 – 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve hot with Mushroom Sauce.
Serves: 6
Mushroom Sauce:
Combine mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan and heat through. Oh, I often add fresh Sliced Mushrooms to the sauce.
If Vegan, omit Mushroom Sauce altogether and serve with a Salsa and Avocado Slices.
After a hectic week at work it is nice to unwind with a ooey, gooey slice of home made pizza fresh out of the oven. As you well know, I usually make my own pizza crust but sometimes it is nice to rely on Helpers! I bought some Pizza shells at Real Canadian Superstore, I had some Yves Pizza Pepperoni and an assortment of cheeses on hand but truly lacked in the veggie department except for one yellow and one red pepper. Normally I would also use green pepper, spinach and tomatoes. Oh, but I did have a handful of mushrooms tucked away in one of the crisper drawers; I know, shocking that they weren’t in a Tupperware container, right? I blame it on lack of space in the very impractical fridge in my current kitchen.
Anyway, I had enough ingredients to throw together three pizzas so there will be some tasty cold pizza for lunch tomorrow!
Pizza Shells
1/2 425g can Tomato Sauce
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon of “The Mix” or Italian Seasoning
1 package Yves Pizza Pepperoni
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil
1 large Onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 each Yellow Pepper, Red Pepper, sliced into thin strips
6 large Mushrooms, sliced
Basil
Oregano
Chili Flakes
Preheat oven to 450F.
Line pizza pans with LFoil for super easy clean up. Sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal.
In large skillet, saute onion in a bit of olive oil, over med-high heat for about 3 minutes.
Add garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes.
Add sliced peppers and cook until tender crisp.
While onion/pepper mix is cooking, mix together in a small bowl the tomato sauce, tomato paste and herbs.
Evenly spread the sauce over each of the pizza shells.
Top two of the pizzas with Yves Pizza Pepperoni.
Top one pizza with loads of the pepper/onion mixture along with the sliced mushrooms; reserve a little of the pepper/onion mixture to top the other two pizzas.
Top each pizza with some of each cheese.
Spread remaining pepper/onion mixture evenly over the other two pizzas.
Top each pizza with a sprinkling of dried basil, oregano and chili flakes.
Bake each pizza for 15 minutes in 450F preheated oven.
Slide pizza off baking tray, let cool for about 5 minutes then slice into wedges.
Serve hot!
Though cold Pizza is always pretty decent too!
A great meal in a matter of minutes!Teriyaki "Chicken"
Throw on a pot of rice.
While the rice is cooking sautee:
Onion, for a few minutes
Add some minced Garlic; cook for another few minutes.
Grate in a bit of Ginger root.
While that is cooking away, thinly slice a few peppers: red, green, yellow
Slice a handful of ‘shrooms.
Break flowerettes off of a head of Cauliflower as well as some Broccoli
Wash all under cold running water, drain well.
Throw into pan and cook over high heat until tender crisp.
Add strips of Yves “Beef” Strips
Add a generous amount of bottled Teriyaki Sauce (1/2 cup) and heat through.
Serve immediately on a bed of hot Rice with Sesame Seeds to garnish.
It has been a long day at work and the last thing you want to do is cook, right? Quesadillas are a quick fix, add a handful of not-s0-g00d-for-you Tater Tots, a side salad and consider dinner done in the amount of time it takes to bake those Tater Tots!
Quesadillas
Turn oven on the 425F.
Lightly spray baking tray with vegetable oil spray.
Put tater tots on tray, put them in the oven; when the oven reaches 425F turn timer on to 20 minutes.
In large Skillet, sautee:
1 Onion, thinly sliced; cook until soft and translucent
While Onion is cooking, de seed and thinly slice:
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
Add to onion and cook over high heat, stirring often.
Add:
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
Cook for a few minutes, while grating about
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese
Heat Griddle to 350F.
I have one of those long Griddles and can cook 3 – 4 Quesadillas at a time.
Place 3 – 4 Flour Tortillas, slightly over lapping, on Griddle.
Put about 1/2 cup of the Pepper mix on one half of the end Tortilla, sprinkle with Grated Cheddar and fold in half.
Proceed until all 3 – 4 Tortillas are “stuffed” and folded over.
Cook until lightly browned, turn over and continue cooking until second side is lightly browned.
Continue with remaining Flour Tortillas and Pepper Mixture.
As the Quesadillas are removed from Griddle, cut each into wedges.
Serve with Tater Tots, a Side Salad and some Salsa on the side.
Welcome to my Kitchen where the most important ingredient is Love.
