Category: food

Vegan lentil loaf is not the most photogenic of dishes. Its brown whole-foody visage summons vegetarian magazines from the 1980s to mind, with their equally brown grainy photos.

But it’s delicious. And good for you. And pretty easy to make.

Ingredients, quantities serve six, adjust as required:

• 250g of green lentils (other types will work too)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 sticks of celery, diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• a teaspoon of dried rosemary or sage
• water for cooking
• 3 slices of wholemeal bread
• a handful of porridge oats
• salt and black pepper to taste (it really doesn’t need much salt)
• sliced tomatoes for topping

Place the lentils in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Turn down to simmer for about 15 minutes then add the carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf and herbs. Cook until the lentils and vegetables are all tender, adding more water to keep covered if needed. Once the veg and lentils are ready, discard any excess water. You want it wet but not swimming in liquid else the loaf will be soggy. Transfer half the mixture (including the bay leaf) to a blender and give a quick blitz. It does not need to be smooth. Tip it back into the pan with the rest of the mix. Crumble the bread into it. Add the oats. Season and stir thoroughly.

Place it all in a greased baking dish. Top with sliced tomatoes and bake in an oven pre-heated to 200C/400F for half an hour.

Great in a roast dinner, or paired with macaroni cheese, or as part of a lighter meal with a baked potato, this lentil loaf also slices really well when cold for sandwiches and salads.

See all our recipes here

Featured book:

The Contented Vegan

The book is a satisfyingly chunky hardback with lots of beautiful full page colour photos that reminded me of when my son was a toddler and used to like to look at recipe books. He would point at each picture and say ‘Nums!’ Well, there’s lots to say ‘nums’ about in this book… See our whole review here

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