Vegan "Meat Loaf"

I have really started to get excited about experimenting with different vegan ideas. I've been told that most things have a vegan alternative that is really good, and I am definitely seeing what I can create in my kitchen with a few minor adjustments.

Last night, my experimentation takes me to a meatless meat loaf. I am using re-hydrated TVP as my base, a bit of thawed chopped collard greens (you can also add red, green, and yellow diced bell peppers), onions, garlic, and a few other items and voilà!

As I type this, the loaf is sitting in the baking tin, covered with some cling wrap as the flavours are working at marrying up and hopefully will make a perfect loaf.

My husband loves meatloaf, especially when I make it. So tonight its going to be quite a feat to get him to "like" this meatless meatloaf as much as he likes the regular ground beef type. I'll definitely update how it turned out before I post this.

The loaf was delicious! It was very moist, and the flavour was really tasty. My husband loved it and really raved about how good it was. I served with with a huge side salad and my own homemade dressing*.

What was really surprising was how filling it was. After only one slice of the loaf, I was already full. I pushed myself to eat more, but found that I very soon became stuffed.

The meal itself is very low on cholesterol and fat, and most of the carbohydrates that can be found in loaf would be in the instant oats (approximately 54g in 1 cup uncooked instant oats), sugar (approx 11.7g) and ketchup (approx 12g).

I felt that the ketchup topping mix was a little too sweet for the dish, and I personally would omit the brown sugar next time. But that truly is optional and up to individual taste whether they put the brown sugar or not.

All-in-all, it was a great success and it even spoke to the palatte of a very meat-obsessed husband.

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating!


Ingredients

1 cup TVP
2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Middle Eastern 7-Spices
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 cup chopped frozen collard greens, thawed (alt. use chopped frozen spinach or chopped fresh baby spinach)
1 cup (mix of) red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper (diced)
5 cloves garlic
1/4 large onion
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Sriracha Chili sauce
1 cup instant oats
1/4 cup flax seed
3 TBSP ketchup
1 TBSP brown sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp mustard powder

1. In a large bowl, soak the TVP with water. Cover with cling wrap and let sit for about 1 hr. Using a fork, fluff it up.
2. Add salt, 7 Spices, pepper and soy sauce. Mix well.
3. Add collard greens
4. In the Magic Bullet (or food processor), blend the garlic, onion, vegetable oil, and sriracha chili sauce together until a paste. Add to the mix.
5. Add oats and flax seed and mix everything together very well.
6. Put the mix into a loaf tin. Cover with foil and let sit for 2 hours to allow all flavours to marry.
7. Heat oven to 375*F. Cook for 30 minutes.
8. Mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, nutmeg, and mustard powder. Pull the loaf out of the oven and spoon mix over top, spread it out all over the top of the loaf. Pop back into oven and cook, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes.

Serve with a fresh green salad and homemade salad dressing*

This portion serves 4-8 people


Homemade Salad Dressing

3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/16 tsp sriracha chili
1 TBSP brown sugar (or agave)
Salt and pepper to taste

Put everything into the Magic Bullet Blender, and blend until smooth.