{Guest Post } Gluten Free Lentil Loaf Recipe

This post is written by Janelle from Nellbe Gluten Free. Janelle is a mum of two boys, a coeliac and vegetarian. I met Janelle at a conference earlier this year. I had reviewed a list of who was attending the conference and set myself a goal to introduce myself to a handful of people who wrote blogs that interested me. Janelle has one of the bloggers that I wanted to meet.  During the evening I approached her to ask if she might be interested in visiting A Fresh Legacy to share a family-friendly gluten free recipe. Lucky for me she was lovely, happy to chat to me and also happy to visit and share a recipe with you.

One of my friends was diagnosed as coeliac last year and I did some research prior to her visiting for lunch a little while ago to ensure I catered for her.

The research I did when I was planning what to serve my friends highlighted to me:

1. How serious being a coeliac is

2. There were numerous things I needed to take into account to ensure my friend enjoyed her lunch and had no issues after

3. I understood very little about a coeliac’s requirements

• I had no idea that there were issues such as cross contamination of food that must be avoided .

I did my research and decided that to guarantee she enjoyed the meal I ended up serving fresh vegetable dishes with ingredients from my garden. Now I also have Janelle’s blog to reference for ideas next time.

Hi I am Janelle from Nellbe Gluten Free

If you are cooking gluten free for the first time it can be daunting. The good news is that all fresh vegetables and herbs are all naturally gluten free, you just have to watch what you put with it.

Since I am a vegetarian and have been for 20 years, I only have to worry about the vegie side of things in terms of main meals. I still cook meat for my husband and 2 boys but then there is no need for me to worry about their meal being gluten free since I am the only coeliac in the family.

Pulses, beans and legumes are a vegetarian’s best friend for protein and thankfully they are also gluten free. So I tend to cook a lot of meals with them in it. A lentil loaf is the perfect dish for gluten free eaters as it is naturally gluten free due to the ingredients being mainly vegetables. It is an easy meal to make, serve it with whatever sides you like. I serve it with home made wedges and salad but during winter mashed potato is a yummy alternative.

Lentil Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 onion diced
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 1/2 red chilli finely chopped
• 400 grams of lentils
• 1 carrot grated
• 1 zucchini grated
• 5 mushrooms chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

 Steps:

1. Preheat oven on 180 degrees Celsius
2. Prepare loaf tin by lining with baking paper
3. Pan fry the onion, garlic and chilli on medium heat for a few minutes
4. Place the onion mixture and all the other ingredients into a bowl and mix well
5. Pour into the prepared loaf tin
6. Bake 50 minutes or until loaf is cooked through
7. Let the loaf sit in the pan for approximately 10 minutes before turning it out and slicing

Vegetarian Lentil Loaf

 Hints and Tips:

• I use canned lentils but if using fresh ensure to soak them in water for 10 or so minutes before using. Also drain and rinse the lentils
• Use garlic and chilli amounts according to your own taste

Thank you Janelle for your recipe. It is a great one to add to my list to try.

Nellbe Gluten Free blog has a number of resources that are helpful for anyone seeking gluten free recipes. Janelle also has a page offering tips and recipes for catering for events such as birthdays, Christmas and Easter.

 Note: The image on this post is copyright and provided courtesy of  Nellbe.