You may have heard, from Canada’s Food Guide or other health or climate recommendations, about the need for all of us to consume more plant-based protein foods like legumes, nuts and seeds instead of animal proteins. But these plant-based protein foods may be new to many of us and a big change to our family meals. As a way to achieve the goal without shaking things up too much, consider easing in with swapping half your ground meat for plant-based protein foods like legumes, nuts or seeds. This meatloaf lacks nothing in flavour but adds so much more fibre and other essential nutrients that traditional meatloaf may lack and no one will even guess that it’s packed with plant-based protein.

Serves 4

1 cup red lentils

350 g lean, ground turkey breast

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup rolled oats

¼ cup parsley, diced

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 can tomato paste, halved

1 Tbsp soy sauce

½ tsp ground black pepper

In a medium-sized pot, cook lentils in 4 cups of water until tender, approximately 30-40 minutes. Drain well. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a loaf pan. Combine all ingredients, including cooked lentils, in a large mixing bowl, reserving half the tomato paste. Mix very well using clean hands or a wooden spoon then press the mixture into the loaf pan. Spread the remaining tomato paste over the top of the loaf. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes then remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until an internal temperature of 74C. Remove from oven, cover and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with roasted veggies and a side salad. Leftovers are delicious as a sandwich filling!!

By Nicole Fetterly, RD MSc