Lentil Loaf

A first attempt at lentil loaf. I started with the basic recipe on cooks.com and then filtered it through the rose-colored-goggles of the best meatloaf recipe in the world (Alton Brown's).

• 1.5 lbs cooked, well drained, lentils (2 cups uncooked)
• 1 cup crushed garlic croutons (food processor?)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1 carrot, chopped finely or grated
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
• 1-2 chipotles, choppped (the kind that come in the can in adobo sauce, yum)
• 2 tsp shoyu (i.e., soy sauce)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp honey
• dash worcheshire sauce
• dash hot sauce

You'll have to cook the lentils first - I like doing it in a pressure cooker. If your lentils are wet (mine were very dry) try adding up to 2 tbsp of whole wheat flour to dry them out a bit. Combine all loaf ingredients in a big bowl. Free form the loaf on a parchment-paper-covered sheet pan (i.e cookie sheet). Cover (I used a glass baking dish), and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Prepare the glaze in the mean time, which just involves combining everything. Remove the cover, coat with glaze and finish cooking for 20 minutes.

For me, it's all about the sandwich (simply with mayo and ketchup on white bread), but you can eat it however you want.