Impress Guests with This Delicious Holiday Loaf

If you're hosting guests over the holidays, you may be prepared to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen cooking up a storm. To help you prepare your feast and impress your guests, this cranberry and lentil bake is ideal! It's quick, easy, cheap, and delicious. Plus, it fulfils every requirement of a holiday dinner main dish - it pairs well with gravy, it pairs well with cranberry sauce, and leftovers are just as good in a sandwich! Read on for the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium-large carrot, grated
• 1 rib celery, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups kale, shredded and tightly packed
• 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1 cup overcooked green lentils
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/3 cup oat flour (or ground oats)
• 3 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Cranberry glaze:

• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce, canned or homemade

Directions

1. Cook your brown rice and lentils. Prep and chop all of your ingredients. Try to keep everything relatively small, your loaf will hold together better that way.
2. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and heat over medium-high. Once your frying pan is heated, add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and kale. Sauté until the onion starts to become translucent (about 2 minutes.) Add the mushrooms, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper and continue sautéing until everything is just tender.
4. In a large bowl, combine the sautéed vegetables, brown rice, lentils, oat flour, ground flax seeds, nutritional yeast, walnuts, and cranberries.
5. Mix everything very thoroughly. Firmly press the mixture into a parchment paper lined loaf pan or 9x9 cake pan.
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, pour the glaze over the loaf and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes to fully set.

Cranberry Glaze

1. In a high speed blender, blend cranberry sauce until completely smooth.

The team at Jack Stone Insurance Agency wish your family a happy and safe holiday!