Vege-Loaf Nutritional Delicious Recipe
I decided to share this recipe because I was experimenting and it turned out well enough that I wanted to be able to reproduce the dish in the future. I figure if I like it that much, you all might like it too.
This recipe can be kept gluten-free and vegan. You can substitute ingredients and avoid any foods that you have problems with. Some folks need to avoid tomatoes, and this case, you can probably get away with using a nice vegetable broth.
Most of the ingredients for this dish can be found at a natural foods store. Many grocery stores are keeping an aisle of natural foods where you can find most of these as well. I like to shop where there are bulk bins and I can just buy as much as I need. I found the tapioca starch at a local Asian grocery.
- ½ c Barley
- ½ c Adzuki Beans
- ½ c Lentils
- ¾ c Quinoa
- ¼ c Millet
- ½ c Brown Rice Flour
- ½ c Tapioca Starch
- ½ c Nutritional Yeast
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 2 T Braggs Aminos
- 1 c Tomato Sauce – seasoned with basil, oregano, black pepper, salt, and garlic to taste.
- ¼ c Parmesan Cheese (You can leave out the cheese for a vegan meal)
Soak barley, adzuki, and lentils overnight.
Rinse and drain them and cook in a steamer until tender. If you don’t have a steamer, you can cook in a pot with a cup of water and slowly steam until tender. You can add water if needed until the beans and grains are completely cooked.
Cook quinoa and millet together in 2 cups boiling water until water is absorbed. Remember to turn down the heat to the lowest setting once the water has boiled and cook covered, stirring every few minutes. This should be cooked in around 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the steamed barley, adzuki, and lentils with the cooked quinoa and millet in a large bowl.
Add flour, tapioca starch, and yeast and stir through the mixture.
Add olive oil, aminos, tomato sauce and cheese.
Blend all these ingredients until completely distributed.
Transfer the blended ingredients to a well oiled loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Keep covered with foil for the first 50 minutes and then uncover and bake until browned on top.
The flavors for this loaf are more Italian. You can change the seasoning for the tomato sauce and the type of cheese and create flavors with other cultures in mind. You can also use different kinds of beans for other cultural styles. Try garbanzos or pintos, or black beans. Be creative!
I served this loaf with a side of sauteed spinach with garlic and a mashed cauliflower dish (substitute for mashed potatoes – just steam a head of cauliflower and toss in a food processor until smooth. Season to your personal taste. I added a little salt and pepper and a pat of butter. I was amazed how well this worked.)
