Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf, Revisited – Oh She Glows

Out of all my favorite vegan recipes, this lentil loaf ranks in my prime 10. It is a massive deal, contemplating I’m in love with a minimum of 3,000 meals at any given second. The unique loaf recipe hails from proficient chef and writer, Terry Walters. I’ve loved enjoying round with the recipe numerous methods since I first made it in 2011. There’s simply one thing concerning the combo of hearty, stick-to-your-ribs lentils, shredded carrots and candy apple, chunky celery, toasted walnuts, and a candy tangy glaze to complete all of it off. It’s whole consolation meals to me.

I discover myself consuming the chilly leftovers for breakfast within the morning. It will get crumbled over salads, stuffed into wraps and buns, and extra not too long ago thrown onto pasta sauce over a mattress of spaghetti squash. I as soon as ate half a loaf within the span of about 8 hours. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I suppose it may very well be worse! To complicate issues, Eric can also be an enormous fan and we frequently discover ourselves vying for the final slice…

The one problem I’ve with the recipe I made a pair years in the past is that it’s fairly labour intensive. For this model, my purpose was to simplify the recipe with out compromising the flavour and texture. I additionally performed round with totally different components and quantities. I’ll be sharing my third trial with you right now – it’s really my new favorite out of all of them I’ve made. Make sure that to see my notes beneath for just a few suggestions I’ve picked up alongside the best way.

Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf, Revisited

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Tailored from 2011 recipe, which was tailored from Terry Walters.

Yield: 1 massive loaf or numerous mini loaves

Substances:

• 1 cup raw inexperienced lentils
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped and toasted
• 3 tbsp floor flax + 1/2 cup water
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 cups diced candy onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/3 cup peeled and grated candy apple (use a agency selection)
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp recent thyme (or 3/4 tsp dried thyme)
• salt & pepper, to style (I take advantage of about 3/4 tsp sea salt + extra Herbamare)
• purple pepper flakes, to style

Balsamic Apple Glaze:

• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp apple butter (or unsweetened applesauce in a pinch)
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Rinse and pressure lentils. Place lentils into pot together with 3 cups of water (or veg broth). Convey to a boil and season with salt. Scale back warmth to medium/low and simmer, uncovered, for not less than 40-45 minutes. Stir regularly & add contact of water if wanted. The purpose is to over-cook the lentils barely (see footage in submit). Mash lentils barely with a spoon when prepared.

2. Toast walnuts at 325F for about 8-10 minutes. Put aside. Enhance oven temp to 350F.

3. Whisk floor flax with water in a small bowl and put aside.

4. Warmth a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium warmth. Sautee the garlic and onion for about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Now add within the diced celery, shredded carrot and apple, and raisins. Sautee for about 5 minutes extra. Take away from warmth.

5. In a big mixing bowl, combine all components collectively. Regulate seasonings to style.

6. Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Press combination firmly into pan. Whisk glaze components after which unfold half on prime of loaf. Reserve the remaining for a dipping sauce.

7. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes, uncovered. Edges shall be evenly brown. Cool in pan for not less than 10 minutes earlier than transferring to a cooling rack. I often wait till loaf is cool earlier than slicing.

I used to have an issue with my lentil loaves falling aside on me. I’ve since found that it actually helps to over-cook the lentils a bit, so the consistency of the lentils is doughy, virtually like mashed potatoes. As you possibly can see within the photographs, the lentils are the right consistency to bind with the opposite components.

Along with enjoying round with the components, I additionally switched up the sizes of the tins/pans:

Trial 1: I made 4 mini loaves (the inexperienced and purple ones).

Trial 2: I used a muffin tin. I received about 16 parts out of the batter which was nice, however I made the error of utilizing paper muffin liners they usually utterly caught to the paper. Subsequent time I’ll grease the tins nicely and never use paper liners. I additionally cooked them a bit too lengthy (40 minutes at 350F) they usually dried out greater than I’d like.

Trial 3: I made 2 medium-sized loaves utilizing 9×5 loaf tins and baked for about 45 minutes or so. Take into accout you may as well use one massive loaf tin too!

The loaves freeze nicely too. Simply make sure that to totally cool the baked loaves earlier than wrapping and freezing.

In case you are searching for a nut-free model, you may wish to attempt utilizing toasted sunflower seeds. I in all probability wouldn’t use a full cup of seeds, however possibly 1/2-3/4 cup. For a gluten-free loaf, use GF oat flour and breadcrumbs and naturally you’ll want to examine all different components.

As for serving options, this loaf is nice paired with applesauce, sautéed greens, and mashed/roasted potatoes.

Optimistically, I might need just a few left for our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. In case you are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, have an exquisite vacation!

Searching for extra Thanksgiving recipes? Take a look at my Thanksgiving Recipe round-up right here, that includes high-protein garlic mashed potatoes, vacation salad, pumpkin garlic knots, and extra.