Let’s say you want a vegan Thanksgiving and are on a no-salt-added and/or no-sugar added diet. Toppings to a vegan lentil loaf could include organic tomato paste that you get from a can which says organic tomatoes are the only ingredient. In tomato paste, most of the time, there’s no salt added compared to tomato sauce in cans or jars to which lots of salt is added. In tomato paste, most of the time there’s also no calcium chloride added to preserve the color of the tomatoes as there might be in canned tomatoes rather than tomato paste.
Another topping that’s vegan for lentil loaf might include red cabbage pickled in apple cider vinegar and a little water to dilute the acid, if needed. Add lemon juice and your favorite spices to the pickling mix such as cloves and minced garlic, if desired. Let it stand overnight in your refrigerator in a covered jar. Then top the loaf with the red cabbage and then put dried breadcrumbs on top of that and bake.
Or top the loaf with tomato paste and then sprinkle the dried whole grain bread crumbs all around the loaf before you put in in an oiled loaf pan to bake. Here’s a vegan recipe for Thanksgiving lentil loaf, no salt or sugar added. Use instead favorite herbs and spices. Chopped onion also can flavor the top of a loaf instead of salt or sugar.
Uses herbs such as dried oregano, basil, mint, parsley, garlic, onion, and other plants as well as spices such as black pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper for added heat. Or use lemon juice and chopped onion instead of salt to season your vegan loaves and casseroles. Chopped carrots sweeten a lentil loaf. Instead of salt, you can top the loaf with pickled red cabbage that has been pickled not in salt and water but in apple cider vinegar and spices of your choice or lemon juice and herbs.
Lentil Loaf with oat meal, spices, and tomato stuffing
Ingredients
2 cups green lentils
4 cups water
1 cup old fashioned oat meal
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup rice bran
1/4 cup oat bran
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon chopped or dried mint leaves
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or macademia nut oil
1 cup dried whole grain/sprouted grain bread crumbs
Directions
1. Combine lentils and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups cooked lentils, eggs, broth, tomato paste, oregano, mint, minced garlic, black pepper, parsley, olive oil or macademia nut oil. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle top with dry whole grain/sprouted grain bread crumbs, and continue baking another 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Garbanzo Bean Flour Pancakes with Carrot Juice or Pureed Pumpkin and Spices
When you wake up on Thanksgiving morning, why not enjoy a healthy breakfast or brunch of garbanzo bean flour pancakes with carrot juice or pureed pumpkin? Either carrot juice or pureed and spiced pumpkin can be used as the liquid part of this recipe.
Serve garbanzo bean pancakes also as a side dish with your lentil loaf lunch and a salad of red cabbage marinated in apple juice vinegar, lime or lemon juice, and olive oil with a sprinkling of spices and herbs such as parsley, basil, oregano, thyme or your favorite spice to add a fragrant scent.
Why use white flour and milk to make pancakes when you can use garbanzo bean flour, flax seed meal, and carrot juice or pureed pumpkin with your favorite pumpkin spices instead? Yield: about 5 pancakes. Double the recipe for 10 pancakes. This recipe is good for lacto-ovo vegetarians. Out of season for pumpkin? Then carrot juice is fine all year long. For a Thanksgiving breakfast try spiced pumpkin that’s pureed to the consistency of paste or use carrot juice to mix with the leavened garbanzo bean flour.
If you’re vegan, substitute for the egg whites or eggs a teaspoon of flax seed meal in the batter to hold the pancake together while frying, but it will taste better if you use 1/4 cup egg whites or one egg as part of your ingredients as far as keeping the pancake from crumbling in the frying pan. Another substitute for egg or oil in the batter is a 1/4 cup of tofu liquified with a teaspoon or two of water to a paste consistency in order to hold the batter together. The garbanzo flour pancakes are a good substitute for those allergic or sensitive to wheat flour.
Note that pumpkin puree may be used instead of carrot juice to form the liquid part of the pancakes for a Thanksgiving breakfast or brunch treat.
Ingredients:
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
3/4 cup carrot juice or 3/4 cup pureed or canned pumpkin
1/4 cup grated carrot
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or macademia nut oil
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg whites or egg substitute
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 teaspoon (5g)baking powder
3 tablespoons of raw, creamed organic honey or maple syrup to pour over pancakes.
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt (optional)
1. Step 1
Use a cup (90 grams) of garbanzo bean flour, that you can find in most health food stores. Or grind your own dry garbanzo beans in a grain grinder or Vita-Mix blender that has a dry grinding blade and container just for grains or legumes.
You can also substitute lentil flour for garbanzo bean flour, but garbanzo bean flour has the nuttier taste for pancakes. Add one teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the dry ingredients and mix. Optional, if you’re not on salt-restricted diet, you can also add 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
2. Step 2
Put the flour, carrot juice or pureed pumpkin, flax seed meal, finely grated peeled carrot, egg, baking soda, baking powder (optional 1/8th teaspoon of sea salt), and mix either by hand or in a blender.
3. Step 3
Oil a frying pan with rice bran oil, olive oil, or macademia nut oil. Or use an olive oil pan spray.
Heat the frying pan until it’s hot. Then pour about 1/3 cup (80 mL) of the batter into the frying pan. Move the pan around until you form the shape of a pancake. Or spoon the batter with a ladle or tablespoon onto the hot oil in the pan.
Fry your pancake until bubbles are all over the top of the pancake. Then flip the hotcake over and fry it on the opposite side until it’s browned, but not burned. Serve with honey or maple syrup.
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