You know a recipe is good when you wake up the next day and can’t wait to get through breakfast and lunch just so you can eat the leftovers for dinner. And then you decide, “Why wait for dinner?” and eat it for lunch instead.
I’ve been searching for a good vegan meatloaf recipe for quite some time and found this on the Whole Foods website. I wasn’t sure if it would cut it as a meatloaf alternative, but it was delicious. And easy to make. And budget-friendly. And healthy. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s one of my favorite recipes.
I will say that the quinoa loaf holds up better the next day. It kept falling apart on me when I served it the first night, but it still tasted great. The next day, the loaf was a lot firmer and easier to remove from the pan in a single piece.
The original recipe didn’t call for it, but I added ketchup to the top of my quinoa loaf for a more authentic “meatloaf” taste.
Quinoa Loaf With Mushrooms and Peas
(adapted from the Whole Foods recipe)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa ( Learn to Cook: Quinoa)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 teaspoon minced dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped red onion
1/2 cup ketchup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. In a large bowl, combine mushrooms, bean mixture, quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. About 15 minutes before it’s finished baking, take the loaf out of the oven and spread the ketchup on top. Put back in the oven for the remaining time. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
I served my quinoa loaf with a side of mashed potatoes and carrots that had a brown sugar and butter (Earth Balance) glaze.
Enjoy!
