Simple Savory Lentil Loaf
A "bread" loaf made from lentils that was created by AI. This recipe also has a sauce that goes with it. This recipe is Lacto-ovo Vegetarian.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Soak and Drain: Soak the 1 cup of lentils in water overnight. Drain and rinse them very well before starting.
Preheat: Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Grease a standard loaf pan.
Puree: Add the drained lentils, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup water, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and garlic to a blender. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy.
Mix: Pour the mixture into a bowl. Gently stir in the 2 Tbsp chickpea flour, 1 tsp baking powder, rosemary, and dill. Mix just until combined.
Bake: Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds, if using.
Time: Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the loaf is set and the top is golden brown.
Cool (Crucial!): Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then move it to a wire rack. Let it cool completely (1-2 hours) before slicing to let the structure set.
Notes and Comments
The Sauce for this recipe: Quick & Creamy Herbed Cottage Cheese Spread
This past year I’ve been learning how to cook from scratch. Since I had weight loss surgery a lot of store bought food makes me dump. Also I feel like a lot of it is not real food and has very little nutritional value. I also wanted to be able to cook so i can help make food for the kids when I go to visit them. Weirdly I ended up focused on bread. This is maybe not the best focus area for someone trying to lose weight but it is what it is. I’ve been cooking a lot of things though.
Another area I landed in was tofu made from things that aren’t soybeans. You can make tofu out of many things. Ok AI and the Youtube community say you can make tofu out of many things other than soybeans. I have not had any luck with it setting up right. But these ingredients and methods slid over into breadmaking. I’ve now started to make “breads” that are not flour based. Last night I made a lentil loaf.
I use Gemini to cook. It’s insane. If you have not tried it, you should. You can ask it for recipes. You can talk about the ingredients you have in the house and it will shift around the recipe until you have everything needed. It will give you a profile for ever herb it suggests and weighs the pros and cons of blending different herbs and using different binders. So, I watched this video on Youtube about making lentil bread. The technique and end result were pretty sketchy so I turned to AI same as the video creator.
Anyway I made it and I like it though it is DRY like a felafel. Good thing I made the sauce. It ended up being 69 calories and 4.6g protein per slice. AI can do the math if you tell it how many portions it ended up being. I asked for a use case for the recipe. Like is this a main protein? A side? What role does it play on the plate? Gemini said to consider it like a protein patty or a piece of tofu. If I have two pieces it is the main protein and if I have one piece its a side. Ok cool. It said the best use case for the loaf was to drop the slices into a soup or chili and use it as sop bread. My husband did that and I had it solo with sauce. This was a fun experience. I’m thinking about creating a recipe section on my website to host all the recipes I make with AI.
Gemini Herb Advice
The Goal: You want the rosemary to provide the foundation and the dill to provide a refreshing sparkle. I would recommend the following division to keep the flavors balanced:I gave AI the recipe from the video and told it what parts I wanted to modify. It came up with a plan for me to make the lentil loaf. It also came up with a sauce for it. I’m like if this is a bread why does it need a sauce? See this is the part I found sketchy about the Youtube video. This bread recipe did not create sandwich bread. The end result was like the thickest cornbread you ever ate with the flavor of lentils. It ended up being lentils, eggs, chickpea flour and herbs. Dang I think it was supposed to have baking powder. Well this gives me an excuse to make it again.This ratio ensures the strong, assertive rosemary handles the savory base of the lentil and chickpea flour, while the dill adds just enough brightness to keep it interesting without tasting like pickles. If you use them in equal parts, the flavors will clash because they are both strong but completely different—the piney rosemary and the anise-like dill would compete for dominance.
- 1.5 Tablespoons of Finely Chopped Rosemary
- 0.5 Tablespoon of Chopped Dill
Anyway I made it and I like it though it is DRY like a felafel. Good thing I made the sauce. It ended up being 69 calories and 4.6g protein per slice. AI can do the math if you tell it how many portions it ended up being. I asked for a use case for the recipe. Like is this a main protein? A side? What role does it play on the plate? Gemini said to consider it like a protein patty or a piece of tofu. If I have two pieces it is the main protein and if I have one piece its a side. Ok cool. It said the best use case for the loaf was to drop the slices into a soup or chili and use it as sop bread. My husband did that and I had it solo with sauce. This was a fun experience. I’m thinking about creating a recipe section on my website to host all the recipes I make with AI.