Veggie Quinoa Loaf -- Thanksgiving style

I had made this recipe for a vegetarian loaf from Whole Foods once before, in muffin tins. It came out pretty well but there were a few more tweaks I wanted to try. Today I wanted to bring a vegetarian dish to Canadian Thanksgiving at a friends house, and this was my chance to make another version of the loaf!

I was a bit worried the loaf would be bland, so I made the mushroom gravy in the next post to go on it. It was a great success (if I do say so myself)! Everyone really liked it, even the meat eaters. One meat eater even took seconds of the loaf, with a full turkey dinner to choose from.

Here is the version of the recipe I made today:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped red onion

1 stalk celery, minced

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon tumeric powder (optional)

1 teaspoon sambar powder (or any masala or curry powder you have on hand) (optional)

1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped finely

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside in large mixing bowl.

2. Heat more oil in pan, saute onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno (with tumeric and curry/masala spice if desired) until soft, put in bowl with mushrooms.

3. Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. Add this bean mixture to the large bowl, along with quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Can be served with vegetarian mushroom gravy, below.