Vegan 'Meat'loaf!!!

Well, I did it! After reading Happy Herbivore's blogs about the 'hippie loaf' and gravy, I decided that tonight I HAD to try it out!!!!

Here's the recipe I got off of Happy Herbivore's blog:

Makes 2 mini loaves or 1 regular loaf

Ingredients:
15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large carrot, skinned and shredded
2 celery stalks, washed and shredded
1 cup coarsly chopped brown mushrooms
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tbsp italian seasoning
3 tbsp brown rice flour (or whole wheat if you prefer)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350F and grease your pan
2. Mash black beans in a large bowl
3. Combine all ingredients, stirring until even
4. Pour into pan and using a spatula, pat down firmly and tightly
5. Bake 35 minutes for minis, 45-1 hour for regular loaves
6. Serve with your favorite gravy if desired

Gravy Recipe

Makes 2 cup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups mock beef or vegetable broth
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
few dashes of black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste

Directions:
1. in a small skillet, whisk nutritional yeast and flour together and toast over med heat, about 4 mins (until it smells toasty)
2. transfer to a med sauce pan
3. whisk in remaining ingredients
4. bring to a boil and allow to thicken to desired consistency

OK so the verdict? For those that are meat-lovers, you may find it weird. For those that are veggies, you'll LOVE it. The spices were so similar to normal 'meat loaf'!! Unfortunately, my pictures make it look kinda gross (HAHAHA) but it wasn't!!! Brenton and I are making 'meat loaf' sandwiches out of the leftovers for tomorrow. I think it'll be really good the 2nd day!

Here is the gravy and the meatloaf in the pan. It was kinda tricky getting the first few pieces out.

Haha I was so excited to try it that I took a few bites before the picture. Sorry!

While I was cleaning up from dinner, I realized "Wow, it's really easy to get this 'meat loaf' out of the pan." And then I remembered how HARD it was to get real meat loaf out unless you soaked it for a day in soapy water. Well, that's symbolic, isn't it. Think about it- if food doesn't wash out of pans or off of plates easily with water, do you really think that it's going to easily go through your system?! Probably not. Interesting, isn't it?

I encourage you to try this recipe, and to try to eat more foods that'll wash off of plates easily!!! Your insides will thank you!

Until next time- Namaste.