Since the recent June weather here in Manhattan has been anything but sunny and warm these past few weeks, I’ve decided to be productive on the rainy evenings and keep myself busy in my tiny Manhattan kitchen- stirring up some healthy and delicious ‘comfort-food’ recipes for my dinners.
Last night, I decided to experiment by making a vegetarian ‘meat-less’ meat loaf–it was absolutely delicious and the best part about this easy meal is that you can easily enjoy it again the next day crumbled atop of pasta or a salad and vegetables for lunch leftovers!
Ingredients
- 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced
- 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup cashews, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup spinach, cooked
- 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 3 Tbsp. brown rice flour
- 2 Tbsp. agave nectar
- Dash of cinnamon
- Dash of Nu-Salt and pepper
- Galaxy Vegan Parmesan cheese, for topping
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease baking pan; set aside.
- Mash black beans and chick peas with a large spoon.
- In a large bowl, combine mashed beans and peas with all other ingredients.
- Spoon into pan and press down firmly with a spatula.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Enjoy!
I just finished this recipe, with just a few variations, to my taste. It is good, but one of the beans causes graininess, which isn’t to cool, I think it is the black bean that does that, maybe I will use just 2 cans of chick peas next time. I liked the idea of putting cranberries in it. it gave it a nice sweetness. It is lacking something, it needs something. its a tad bland, But, over all I would give you a 95% on this. Good job !