Jackie Akerberg’s vegan meatloaf is made with cooked lentils and flaxseed. (Photo: Jackie Akerberg)
By Chris Diebel
When cold temperatures settle in, I start cooking classic comfort foods. Think spaghetti Bolognese, beef Bourguignon and pan-fried chicken piccata. Inevitably, my spouse puts a foot down and starts asking me to lighten things up.
With that in mind, I recently turned to an expert who excels at cooking in a way that’s far outside my comfort zone. Jackie Akerberg is the creative force behind the popular plant-based blog Jackfruitful.com and a beautiful cookbook titled “The Clean Vegan Cookbook.” Along the way, she’s racked up more than 467,000 followers on Instagram (@jackfruitfulkitchen), where viewers are treated to vibrant posts of fresh meals without meat. So who better to collaborate with on my quest to lighten up comfort food?
My challenge to Jackie: Help me create a vegan “meat” loaf dinner with mashed potatoes and a vegetable side. On a recent winter evening, she came over armed with tips, tricks and a bag full of groceries. There was a plain, unsweetened creamer that Forager Project makes from cashews, oats and coconut; an oat milk butter from Miyoko’s Creamery; and a dairy-free sour cream from Kite Hill. I was skeptical, but we tasted each product by itself to confirm that they’d pass muster. Indeed, they did.
With my fears of dry and bland mashed potatoes assuaged, we turned our attention to the main attraction, the “meat” loaf. How would we create something that didn’t turn out to be mush? Would it bind without eggs?
Jackie used a protein-packed recipe based on cooked lentils, along with mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic sautéed with Worcestershire powder for an umami punch. As a binder, she mixed ground flaxseed with water. Later, she minced walnuts in a food processor and then tossed in the lentils and veggies, taking care not to make the overall mixture a mush.
Once that was combined, she transferred the lentil mélange into a bowl and mixed in Panko breadcrumbs, a can of diced green chiles and a zippy sauce. That’s where I came in: As a native Texan, I grew up with meatloaf with a barbecue glaze, typically a mix of 50% barbecue sauce, 25% spicy mustard and 25% ketchup. Of course, the ratios are flexible and you can taste flavors as you go.
Once we were happy with the texture and spices, we formed a loaf in a greased pan, topped it with more sauce and baked it for about an hour. When we removed it from the oven, we drizzled additional mustard on top for a decorative kick and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Take it from me, a lifelong omnivore: The dinner was extremely satisfying. It’s ideal for those who want to incorporate a few meatless meals into their diet this winter. The full recipe can be found here.
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