Lentil Loaf

I know many vegetarians celebrate Thanksgiving with a Tofurky, but not me. I want something beautiful as my holiday centerpiece, not something that looks like a dead animal.

So this year I will be serving a squash or pumpkin (haven't decided which one!) stuffed with lentil loaf. It will be a truly festive and seasonal dish.

With it we'll have corn and carrots, creamed spinach, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and the persimmon and pomegranate salad I made last year. (You can read the recipe here.) With goat cheese walnut puffs as appetizers and apple pie with whipped cream for dessert, we will be suitably rotund when we rise from the table. That's okay, Friday we'll have Green Soup for dinner.

Unlike the lentil loaf I made a couple of years ago which fell apart at the table, this one will hold its shape. (I know because I made it today. On Thursday I will cut the top off the squash, take out the seeds, and stuff the already cooked lentil loaf in the cavity. Then I'll cook it at 375° for an hour, by which time with luck the pumpkin will be cooked through.)

If you are going to a non-vegetarian dinner, take a couple of slices of this loaf wrapped in foil and heat it in a corner of the oven for 10-15 minutes. As long as you're not somewhere bacon is added to every dish, you'll have great sides to go with it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lentil Loaf
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 sticks celery, chopped
1/3 cup kidney beans, cooked (or 1 14-oz can, drained)
1/3 cup brown lentils, cooked (or 1 14-oz can, drained)
1 egg
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup Cheddar, grated
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sauté the onion, garlic and celery in the olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes.

Put the kidney beans and lentils in the food processor. Add the egg and the onion mixture. Process until smooth.

Pour into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, along with salt and pepper to taste.

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Spoon the mixture in the pan, smooth the top, and bake one hour.

Let rest a few minutes before tipping out of the pan to serve. (Or let it cool in the pan.)

Can be served any way meatloaf is: with vegetables and mashed potatoes and gravy, cold in a sandwich, shaped into patties and dipped in breadcrumbs and fried like burgers, or as I will be doing Thursday - stuffed into a pumpkin.

Makes one loaf - enough for 8-10 servings.