While everyone in America is getting ready for their Thanksgiving I found myself wandering around pictures of the deliciously cooked meatloaf, crusted potatoes, Brussels sprouts, triple chocolate pumpkin spice cinnamon roll cakes and all the rest of amazing food that will be served on this day. When I stopped drooling over my phone I came with an idea, that even if we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, that doesn’t mean that I can’t have a delicious meal on the other side of the ocean. 

And here it is – easy to make, a bit crumbly, soft and full of flavours lentil hummus loaf (vegan meatloaf). I never tried meatloaf in my life. I never had it when I was eating meat and never had the plant based version of it. So it was my first time making and also trying it. Believe it or not I was quiet surprised but it came out better then I expected. It’s so good that I already had it two times today. No sharing. I like how nut roasts fall apart when you cut it, so this meatloaf is also a little bit crumbly. Also, since my oven is a piece of something that needs to be thrown away from the 17th floor so it would smash into tiny little pieces which will never ever be fixed, I cooked it for a long long time and it still wasn’t enough. But since all the ingredients are plant based and all the ingredients are cooked separately before mixing them together it was no problem to eat it.

If you’re ready to try something new recipe is below.

Here’s what we need:
2.5 cups of cooked red lentils (it’s about 1.5 dry lentils)
1 container of your favourite hummus (I used Tesco caramelised onion hummus)
3 Tbsp oat flour (you can make your own by blending oats)
2 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
2 Tbsp BBQ sauce or tomato ketchup
1 red onion
1 carrot
Spices – I used garlic powder and oregano
Salt and pepper

Here’s how we do it:
1. Preheat the oven and line a load pan with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor pulse the lentils, hummus, salt and oat flour together until it becomes one even mix and set it aside in a bigger bowl
3. Chop the onion and grate carrots. Saute these veggies with herbs and spices in a pan with olive or coconut oil until onion is soft (carrots will cook more in the oven).
4. Combine both lentil and hummus mixture with cooked veggies in a large bowl together along with the sauce of your choice (tomato or BBQ) and extra spices.
5. Place the lentil loaf mixture into a loaf pan and smooth along the edges, cover it with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
6. After that, uncover your lentil loaf, top it with a little of tomato sauce and return to oven for the last 10 minutes.
7. Eat eat eat!

It goes along with mashed potatoes and veggies very well, but don’t be afraid to use any other side like couscous, sweet potato fries or even on a bread as a sandwich! 

I hope you will love it as much as I do!