As featured in my “What I Ate in a Day” video…

It’s that time of year again when it starts to get colder and the holiday parties begin! As a vegan, one of my favourite things to make during this time of year is a nut or lentil roast/loaf. Kind of like a vegan version of a meatloaf.

For me, it is almost mandatory that I make one (or a few) of these every holiday season. I just don’t believe that vegans should be stuck to the side vegetables and potato wedges and not get to indulge in the “main” event. Think of this as the perfect plant-based “main” event.

There are so many different ways of making a nut or lentil roast – I’ve made many of these before and I think every single time, I do things slightly differently. I always get a little nervous because I never know how things are going to turn out, but I think this one is a pretty safe bet… it’s going to be delicious!

This one is a twist on a previous nut roast I made – I changed a few things and originally I wasn’t planning on making a dedicated blogpost for this new recipe but thought it deserved it. I highly recommend making this for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It’s the perfect thing to bring so that you can share the deliciousness of a nut roast with everyone.

I actually made this recently to bring to my friend’s place for our Thanksgiving dinner (for those of you that don’t know, Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated in October – it just passed by over the weekend!). Even though most of my friends are not vegan, I always make food and bring it to these events, not just for me, but also so that they can try it as well. Lots of people enjoyed this roast.

What’s great about this is that it is soy-free so for those of you that are allergic or intolerant to soy, this is an absolute must try! Especially since a lot of meat-alternatives contain soy. This is also gluten-free AND can be made completely oil-free (read instructions).

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Vegan Nut & Lentil Roast Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mixed nuts and seeds of your choice
• 1 cup canned or cooked lentils, rinsed & drained
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped finely
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin (optional. If omitted, use 1/4 cup almond flour instead of 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup almond flour or oat flour
• Seasonings:
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
• Glaze:
  • 3 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp apple vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, chop the nuts/seeds into crumbs. Add into a large mixing bowl.
3. In the same food processor, add lentils and process until mostly mashed. This doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth, just mostly mashed. Add into the mixing bowl.
4. Heat a little vegetable oil (or use splash of water if oil-free) on a pan on medium-high heat, then saute onion, mushroom and garlic together until cooked (around 2-3 minutes). Add the mixture into the mixing bowl.
5. Add seasonings, apple sauce, pumpkin & almond flour and mix everything well.
6. Spray a loaf pan with some cooking spray or line with non-stick parchment paper. Then spread the mixture evenly, pressing down gently.
7. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and add 3-4 little holes with a toothpick or chopsticks.
8. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes, covered with foil.
9. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together glaze ingredients.
10. After 50 minutes of baking, take out the roast, remove the aluminium foil then spread the glaze on top. Bake, uncovered, for another 10 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven and let it cool down for around 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.
12. Enjoy!