Creamy Mushroom and Kale Loaf

One of the things that I like with the nutritarian way of cooking is the ability to create healthy versions of certain dishes. This is a "kind of a meat loaf" without meat!

I make these things regularly and vary the ingredients to ring the changes. You can use eggs or choose not to. Eggs give a lighter texture and the loaf sets better, but even if it falls apart it's still nice, just not as pretty.

Having a vita mix helps here as you can use raw veggies but you could use a food processor to get a similar effect.

Ingredients -

1 large onion
1-2 carrots washed or peeled and cut into chunks
Garlic 2 peeled and chopped cloves
Any mushrooms peeled and roughly chopped
3-4 tablespoons of water
1 dessert spoon of stock powder
1 bag of kale (stalks removed)
1 handful of fresh herbs (tarragon works well or tsp of dried)
1 large pack of drained silken tofu
Approx 2 cups of Oatmeal (or porridge oats if using a vita mix)
2 large eggs (optional)

Method -
In a pan with a lid heat water and stock till boiling.
Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, herbs & carrots.
Put lid on and healthy sauté/steam for 5 - 7 mins till softened.
Place in blender or food processor with other ingredients.
Depending on the capacity and type of machine you may need to do this in batches and mix in a bowl.
Grease a loaf tin or mould with oil. (silicone ones work best)
Fill mould, smooth top.

Put foil over the top if you do not want a crust to form.
Place in oven for approx 40 mins (160c fan oven).

If not using eggs you may need to add more oatmeal and cook slightly longer. One tip is to turn the oven off after cooking and leave the loaf in while it cools.

Let cool and loosen with a knife. Turn out onto a plate or board.

Slice and serve hot or cold with salad and a salsa.

Another use I have found for this is to slice it and griddle it (the firmer version). It gives quite crisp and crunchy and the light charring of the griddle gives an extra dimension to the flavour. I brush it with my lazy garlic too which is nice.

Another way to eat Kale.

I'd love to know if anyone makes this and gets kids to eat it. It does taste good and the texture is good so it may fool reluctant veggie eaters into eating it.

Enjoy!