Vegan Thanksgiving Loaf with Cranberry Glaze
Can’t find a tofurkey? This dish offers a perfect savoury-sweet contrast of tart-but-sweet cranberry glaze coupled with a hearty loaf. It fulfills every requirement of a holiday dinner main dish. A whole foods, plant-based alternative to the holiday turkey or tofurkey. Try this delicious and interesting Vegan Loaf for your holiday meal, and smother it with some creamy cashew gravy !
VEGAN LOAF
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ cups kale, shredded and tightly packed
- 1 medium-large carrot, grated
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 rib celery, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt, to taste
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp thyme
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup overcooked green lentils
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- ½ cup ground walnuts
- ⅓ cup oat flour ( or you can use ground oats)
- 3 tbsp ground flax seed
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup dried cranberries (optional and recommended!)
- ½ cup (or a little more) cranberry sauce, canned or homemade (recipe below)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
- In a large frying pan heat olive oil over medium-high. Once the oil is hot, add the kale, carrot, onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté until the onion is nearly translucent (about 2 minutes).
- Add the mushrooms, salt, oregano, thyme, and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are just tender.
- In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, cooked lentils and brown rice, walnuts, oat flour, flax seed, and nutritional yeast. Mix thoroughly and roughly, mashing some of the ingredients in the process. This is important to help the loaf bind together.
If needed, blend ⅓ of the mixture using a food processor or immersion blender and recombine. For best texture and appearance do not blend all of the mixture. - If using, mix in the dried cranberries. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and firmly press the mixture into the pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes. While the loaf bakes, prepare the cranberry glaze: In a high-speed blender, blend the cranberry sauce until smooth. Remove the loaf from the oven, pour the glaze over the top and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the glaze has set and no longer looks shiny.
- Allow the loaf to cool for 10-15 minutes to fully set.
- Store leftovers for up to 4 days.
CRANBERRY SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (340g/12-oz) packages fresh (or frozen) cranberries (3 cups)
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Rinse cranberries.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together cranberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Turn heat down to medium and simmer until most of the cranberry skins have burst, about 5 minutes. The cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.
- Transfer the cranberry sauce to a serving dish, and chill until thick.
Source: www.ilovevegan.com
If you loved this Vegan Thanksgiving Loaf recipe, be sure to try out this Glowing Vegan Spiced Lentil Soup.