Recipe -- Wild rice no-meat loaf

I have been meaning to make a no-meat loaf ever since I went vegan on March 1st, 2012. Or, possibly even since I quit meat in November of 2011. Anyway, it's been a long time coming and I have had this recipe bookmarked for ages. Well, I finally got around to making it and boy, oh boy, am I glad I did!

It turned out better than I could have possibly imagined. I made a few revisions, which I'll notate below, but otherwise I took everything straight from Pure Ella. She is definitely right when she says to make sure the rice is cooked ahead of time as wild rice takes nearly an hour to get done. So unless you've got two hours to set aside and make this you had better stick with that advice.

Other than that it made six servings at 257 kcal per serving (and mine is completely oil free). It goes well with some steamed green beans, mashed cauliflower, sauteed spinach or any other side you can think of.

Wild rice no-meat loaf
Serves 6
Takes: ≈ 120 minutes (can make some parts ahead of time to reduce the time)
Adapted from Pure Ella

what you'll need

• 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice, prepared to package instructions
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced fine
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup dairy-free bread crumbs
• 2 springs of fresh oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper or more to taste
• 1 tsp sea salt or more to taste
• 5 tbsp warm water, divided

what you'll do

1. Chop the onion very fine, and in small non-stick skillet saute until golden– set aside.
2. In a small bowl mix the ground flax seeds and 3 tbsp warm water, mix and set aside.
3. Chop all raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts into the smallest pieces you could.
4. In a food processor, grind all the red kidney beans into a paste.
5. In a large bowl combine the bean paste, sauteed onion, all the dried fruit, nuts, 2/3 of the wild rice (reserve 1/3 for top), and 1/2 of the flax seed mixture, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and pepper plus fresh oregano – mix well.
   
   If the mixture is too dry, add a few tablespoons of warm water, mix and add more until it sticks together and isn’t crumbly, but it’s not runny. Taste it and add more seasoning if needed. Tasting it is a very important step to make sure it doesn’t come out bland at the end.
6. In another small bowl, add 1/3 of the wild rice remaining with 1/2 of the flax seed mixture, season with salt and pepper and mix well to incorporate. This is the wild rice topping.
7. Assemble in the lined loaf pan by adding the rice topping first. Be sure to spread it out evenly. Then add in the other loaf mixture. Press down firmly so it forms well in the pan, smooth out the top.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Click on the photos below to see the entries they were originally featured in-- except the last one, since this is it's first appearance. :)