Hearty-Har-Har: Lentil Loaf and Rice-y Dishes

I like a hearty meal just as much as anyone else, so although I make a lot of salad-y light meals, I like to prove that I can do more than that sometimes.

Exhibit A: Fried rice

I took a can of baby corn, some leftover veggies like shredded carrots and mushrooms (not a veggie?), green onion, mixed-grain rice (made from the day before, which is always best for fried rice), sesame oil, Bragg's liquid aminos (to minimize sodium), eggs, and gave it a cook in our semi-new wok.  I say "semi-new," because it used to belong to our friend before she got married last year.  I kind of just eyeballed everything, so there's not a real recipe here... sorry.

This was all right, but not nearly as good as my parents can make it.  I figure I'm better at more Americanized things, so I decided to make vegan barley risotto (recipe HERE) instead.

This vegan recipe had my mouth watering, as risotto is a no-no for the dairy-intolerant.  But with some creative ingredients, this really came together.  Don't judge the wateriness at first!

Much better!  I should have stopped the cooking at that point, but I made it even thicker later to soften the barley more.  However, some creaminess was lost in that process.  Next time, I'll stop the cooking at THIS point.

Also on the hearty food list was this vegan lentil loaf (recipe HERE).  This took a LOT of prep and ingredients that raised my eyebrow (apple?), but it was so worth it in the end.  (Yep, my purse is hanging out there, for some reason.)

Dry ingredients.

I had to grind some of the lentils up so it would adhere...

Glazing this thing was SO much fun!  (And flavorful!)

The end-result.  Both dishes were completely drool-worthy and hearty indeed.  The lentil loaf was really, truly worth all the prep work, as it was flavorful and filling.  I will definitely make it again!  It also made for great leftovers!