As we ate this and I was so surprised at how delicious it was, our daughter laughed and said, “What did you expect, of course it would be bad, you were making it. pause. Of course it was going to be good!” Now, you have to realize how amazing this is – growing up the girls pretty much lived on Zatarains and dreaded when I would “cook.” They still tell war stories about some of the big failures.

The change came really came about 8 years ago when I had a slow time with my business and dove into my garden and cooking for real. They started looking forward to coming home for dinner. They now tease my 7 year old that he never had to eat “bad” food (I even made just about all of his baby food).

To me, this loaf was still a shot in the dark because it was not my recipe and I have always had mixed experiences with vegetarian loafs. But this was a big hit, we all loved it, so its a keeper! (but next time I will use a narrower loaf pan, it will look prettier)

It was very reminiscent of a good meatloaf. Even the texture working with it felt like meat.

And the glaze added a nice interest and even extra flavor to an already flavorful loaf.

Directions

Heat oven to 375°.

Prepare lentils by rinsing them and adding to a pot with water and a bay leaf. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat down and simmer covered until all the liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender (about 15-20 minutes). Remove from heat, discard the bay leaf and set the lentils aside to cool. This step can be done in advance (it helps with time management).

In the meantime toast walnuts by spreading them onto a baking sheet and toasting in the oven for about 5 – 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

In a medium pan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, carrots and celery until they’ve softened and become fragrant. About 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Add lentils (reserve ½ cup for later), cooked veggies, toasted walnuts, oats, soy sauce, tomato paste, ground flaxseed, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, thyme, oregano, basil, cayenne pepper, ground pepper and sea salt to the food processor.

Pulse until mixture is just combined and the texture is to your liking. You want the mixture to be combined enough to stick together, but you don’t want it to be completely pulverized. It should look and feel like ground beef texture.

Stir in the reserved lentils

Press mixture into parchment lined loaf pan.

In a small bowl stir together glaze ingredients.

Spread the glaze over top of the loaf.

Bake covered with foil for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 8 more minutes. Let the loaf rest 15 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Serves 6.