I must admit I was a little leery when my cousin first shared this recipe with me, but lucky for me I gave it a go and was quite pleasantly surprised with the results! Since that first bake I’ve altered the original recipe more than a few times over the years to make it my own. It’s a wonderful loaf to serve any time of the year, but it’s especially festive dressed up for the holiday table! It makes a great option to serve for your vegan family and friends. Not to mention it’s also gluten free.
Ingredients / Serves 6-8
1 15 ounce can garbanzos (chickpeas), drained (reserve liquid)
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup walnuts
1 carrot, medium
1/2 onion, large
4-5 cloves garlic
2 ounces (about a handful) mushrooms, brown or cremini
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
1 tablespoon diced chipotle peppers (jar or canned) in adobe sauce, or one whole.
1 tablespoon light yellow miso
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons barbeque sauce
1 tablespoon tamari
1 teaspoon liquid smoke seasoning
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2-3 tablespoons flax seed meal
Method
Step 1) Spray or grease a 9×5 bread pan and set aside. Drain the beans into a small strainer and reserve the liquid. Set liquid aside.
Step 2) Place oatmeal and walnuts in a food processor and pulse several times until you have a semi-ground crumb. You want some texture left. Place mixture in large mixing bowl.
Step 3) Put onion, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic in processor and pulse 6-8 times until finely diced/minced, but not pulverized. Place in bowl with oat mixture.
Step 4) Finely dice or mince the sun dried tomatoes, chipotle pepper, and half of the chickpeas and add to the oat mixture.
Step 5) Pulse the remaining chickpeas 3-4 times in processor. You want them to be diced, but still chunky, not minced or pureed. Add to mix.
Step 6) Add the remaining ingredients and then slowly add the the reserved bean liquid (or slightly less depending on wetness) until well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight. The mixture should form a ball and hold together. It should be moist and tacky, but hold together. Some of the moisture will be absorbed the longer it sits.
Step 7) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. After 30 minutes give the mixture a few more quick stirs or kneads. Form into a elongated roll and place into prepared pan. Once in pan, press down and smooth top. Baked covered for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and spread with your favorite barbeque sauce or ketchup, or a combination of each as I do. Place back in the oven un-covered and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Place on rack until cool enough to handle or about 15-20 minutes.
Step 8) Carefully turn out onto serving platter. This loaf refrigerates well and is great sliced for sandwiches or on toast. Keep in mind it will firm up as it cools.
Notes:
I’ve never tried it, but it may be easier to line the pan with parchment paper for easy removeable after baking. You should be able to just lift the loaf out and set on serving platter. Otherwise, it can be a little tricky to tip the loaf out without making a mess or risk splitting the loaf.
