Little lentil loaf

My mom makes great meatloaf, and I loved it growing up. I know this is definitely not the same, but given my curiosity about iron-rich foods, I was curious about this lentil-laden version. The recipe is originally adapted from the Vega website, but I made a few modifications and would do a few things differently in the future.

Original recipe:
http://myvega.com/vega-life/recipe-center/cranberry-maple-glazed-lentil-loaf/

Lentil Loaf Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Coconut oil
• 1 medium Onion, diced
• 2 stalks Celery, diced
• 2 Carrots, shredded
• ½ tsp Dried sage
• 1 tsp Thyme
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• ½ cup Red Lentils, soaked and rinsed
• ½ cup Green Lentils, soaked and rinsed
• 2 ½ cups Water
• ½ cup Ground Oats
• ¾ cup Oats

Cranberry-Maple Glaze Ingredients:

• 2 cups Cranberries, frozen or fresh
• ½ cup Orange Juice
• 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• ½ cup Maple Syrup

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion and celery. Add in carrots, sage, thyme, red lentils, green lentils and water. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 35 minutes or until lentils are soft.
3. While the lentils are cooking, combine cranberries, orange juice, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thick.
4. Once lentils are cooked mix in ground oats and oats. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
5. Press into a loaf pan and pour cranberry sauce on top.

1. Bake for 45 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before cutting into.

We skipped the glaze and just ate it with ketchup (nope, we're not actually going vegan or eliminating anything special). A few notes:
- I cooked the carrots with the onions and celery, a little sear sounded like a good idea.
- I added the spices to the vegetables about a minute before I added the water + lentils, just to get the flavors mixed better

Things I would change:
- I would use vegetable stock instead of water
- I would put a glaze (maybe ketchup) on top before baking. The top layer of our loaf was a little dry, still tasty, but dry!

If you cut the loaf into 6 slices, nutrition per slice:
cal: 316
carbs: 55 grams
fat: 2 grams
protein: 20 grams
fiber: 13 grams
iron: 16 %