Quick and Easy Vegetarian Meatloaf the Kids Will Love

Onward with our quest to creating kid friendly Meatless Monday recipes. Yep, we are on a mission to embrace a less meat focused lifestyle and that means feeding our kids vegetarian recipes that are kid approved.

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When I finally decided to learn how to make lentils (which I learned is super easy) I discovered that lentils are super versatile. Yep, they can be used as meat substitute in all kinds of meaty recipes. So, why not give a lentil meatloaf a try? I love recipes like meatloaf. These are the perfect end of the week, fridge-cleaning-out kind of recipes that busy families love. When I dove into our fridge we had the end of a bag of carrots - perfect. You could easily add broccoli, red peppers, cauliflower, or whatever vegetables you have available. My only suggestion would be to make sure that they are chopped finely - so they cook quickly and evenly...after all this is a quick dinner. I wanted to make a vegetarian meatloaf that would still taste hearty. Wait until you see what my family thought about this lentil meatloaf (hint: it wouldn't be here if they didn't love it). 

Easy Lentil Meatloaf

2 cups dried green lentils 4 cups vegetable stock 1 bay leaf 1 cup large flake oats 2 tablespoon olive oil 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 shallot, chopped 1 cup finely chopped carrots 2 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 tablespoon fresh parsley 2 teaspoon soy sauce 2 teaspoon brown sugar 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground pepper ⅓ cup ketchup Begin by cooking the green lentils. Bring a pot of vegetable stock to a boil and then add the green lentils and the bay leaf. Bring the liquid back up to the boil and then drop down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Once the lentils are cooked, drain off any excess liquid. Transfer the lentils to a tea towel lined baking sheet. This will help to further dry the cooked lentils. Set the lentils aside and prep the other ingredients. Add the olive oil to a skillet, over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, garlic and carrots to the pan. Stir to coat with the oil. Cook the vegetables for 2-3 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add in the tomato paste, dried basil, brown sugar, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. The brown sugar, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar work like a dash of worchestshire sauce - which isn't vegetarian - thus the substitute. Stir and cook the mixture until the tomato paste browns and the carrots soften. Remove from the heat and set aside. Now it's time for the food processor to go to work. Pour the oats into the processor and whiz it to breakdown the oats a little. They don't have them into a flour, you just want to chop them up a little, so they aren't full oat flakes. Add the cooked lentils, the cooked vegetables, fresh parsley, salt and pepper to the oats in the food processor. You can add a dash of your favourite barbecue sauce at this point, if you would like to add a smokey flavour. Okay, it's time to process the ingredients together. This is only going to take a few seconds to come together. Zip-zip and everything will be mixed together. Transfer the meatloaf "meat" to an oiled loaf pan. Use an offset spatula to press the meatloaf into the pan. Brush the ketchup on top of the meatloaf. Bake the meatloaf, covered, in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Let the loaf cool and then slice and serve. We served our meatloaf with a super simple side salad, but if your kids love mashed potatoes they would be perfect.  I didn't tell my family that the meatloaf was actually meatless...and they couldn't tell. Yep, they didn't realize that it was made with lentils and not ground beef. Pretty awesome, right? If your kids aren't keen on vegetables being cooked into foods, then process the vegetables first in the food processor. Get the veggies super fine and the won't be noticed in the meatloaf. 

What do you think? Will your family know that this is a meatless meatloaf?

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Our favourite food processor

KitchenAid 11-Cup Food Processor with ExactSlice System - I love it because it has two different size bowls. The small bowl is perfect for making pestos and the larger bowl is great for this meatloaf recipe.

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