Moroccan Lentil Loaves

Today, I was in the mood for something vegan, spicy --- and "meaty". I was inspired by a  recipe of the wonderful Angela @ Oh She Glows, the Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut loaf, but by adding different spices and ingredients, it became my  Moroccan Lentil loaf.

Ingredients:

(makes only 6 small servings)

1 1/2 cup of cooked lentils, chickpeas and cranberry beans (or beans of your liking)

1 1/2 TB harissa (Moroccan spicy hot pepper paste)

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 ts minced garlic (Trader Joes!)

1 stalk celery, cleaned, finely diced

1/2 TB olive oil

salt, pepper

1 TB bbq sauce

1 flax egg (2 TB ground flax seed, 1/8cup water, mixed to gel)

1/2 cup bread crumbs (Progresso, with herbs and garlic) or home-made

First, mix the flax egg. Preheat oven to 375F.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil, and saute the onions, celery, red bell pepper and the garlic for ca 5min on medium-low. At the end, add in the BBQ sauce, as well as add salt and pepper. Let slightly cool, and add 1/2 of the mixture to a food processor. 

Mix the cooked lentil mix with the harissa, and puree about 75% with the sauteed vegetables in the food processor. Add the puree to a larger bowl and mix with the unprocessed lentils. Add the flax eggs and bread crumbs, and mix all the ingredients gently, Spray a loaf pan or muffin pan or brownie pan with cooking spray, and distribute the mix in the pan, pressing down. As glaze, I added a bit of BBQ sauce.

Bake for 35min at 375F.