Recipe: Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf (Revised)

Lentil walnut apple loaf with sides of broccoli and brown rice 

I'm always trying to combine "quick dinners" with "made from scratch."   When I found this recipe for a lentil-walnut loaf (courtesy of Angela Liddon's fantastic and photo-rich vegan blog Oh She Glows -- for reference see the original loaf recipe here), I was thrilled:  while it's a bit involved -- you are going to be grating, dicing, chopping and mixing for quite a while -- this is a great make-ahead main dish that is better the second day, and which freezes/reheats very well, allowing a home-cooked dinner on a busy work-night.  So make a big batch of this, and enjoy however you wish!

GERD-wise, this fits my criteria for a great food choice for me:  soft texture, stomach-pleasing ingredients that are savory but not spicy,  familiar ingredients that work well with my particular guts,  and the addition of the apple, a motility-friendly ingredient.  And, it's vegan, too.  :)   The only digestive problem I've had with this recipe is over-eating -- it is that yummy!  (Angela notes she once had this for "breakfast, lunch and dinner" and I could easily follow that lead.)   As always, GERD is person-specific, and if you have trouble with any of the ingredients, play around with substitutes and ratios, and find a combination that works for your guts.

LENTIL WALNUT APPLE LOAF (REVISED)

Ingredients

LOAF:

1 C. uncooked green/brown lentils
1 C. walnuts, finely chopped and toasted (I have not tried this recipe with toasted nuts and it's come out fine, but I'll bet it's even better if you take this extra step…)
3 tsp. ground flax and 1/2 C. water
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 and 1/2 onion, diced
1 C. diced celery
1 C. grated carrot
1/3 C. peeled and grated apple
1/2 C. rolled oats (the original recipe calls for oat flour, but I was out of this so I used oats -- to great results)
3/4 C. breadcrumbs (I never have these on hand and just add a handful of whatever dried bread products I have on hand; I toast them to dry them out and just crumble them in)
1 tsp. dried thyme
2  T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

GLAZE: 

1/4 C. tomato paste
1 T. maple syrup
Water to thin

1. Grease loaf pan and line with parchment paper.  (I have made this recipe using a glass loaf pan, as well as disposable foil mini-loaf pans; both turned out well.)
2. Rinse and sort lentils.  Put in pot with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Overcook slightly.
3. Toast walnuts in 325 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.  When done, increase heat in oven to 350 in preparation for the loaf.  (I have skipped this step in the interest of time, and my loaves have come out great, but I can see the benefit of this added flavor-building step.)
4. Whisk flax with 1/2 C. water.  Set aside.
5. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
6. Add celery, carrot, and apple.  Saute 5 more minutes.
7. Mix all ingredients in large bowl:  oats, breadcrumbs, sauteed vegetables, herbs and flax mixture.
8. Make glaze:  Whisk tomato paste and maple syrup with water as needed to make spreadable glaze.   The original recipe calls for 2 T. of apple butter and 2 T. balsamic vinegar as well (and using ketchup instead of paste), which also sounds tasty. Your call!
9. Spread glaze over top of loaf.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes uncovered, until edges brown.  Both times I've made this, the cooking time was 30 minutes longer.  It seemed to take forever to move from a loaf pan full of mush to a cooked food.   Once, I removed the semi-cooked loaf and cut into slices, which I returned to the oven for a final baking (biscotti-style).   

         Here is a rather unattractive photo that demonstrates what I mean by twice-baked (looks can  
         deceive -- this was so tasty!):

What I did when my first loaf was too soft - twice-bake in the oven!

GERD Update: Follow Up Visit with my Gastroenterologist

What a busy January!  I can finally sit and write a "gut update."

Since October, I've noticed an increase in bloating, nausea, constipation, and unusual motility issues (stomach pain, diarrhea, and one case of greasy stools -- whoa).   I also lost five pounds, probably due to increased exercise (Hurricane Sandy caused my commute to involve massive miles of walking when the subways were down) and diet changes, but this concerned me as a "symptom."  What if there is another, more serious, reason?   I decided a follow up visit to Dr. C., my gastroenterologist, was warranted, and met with him before the holidays in December.

We discussed my symptoms, looked at my blood panel (normal), and Dr. C. reconfirmed his thought that I have a sensitive gut, that my pathology is caused by stress.   For the first time, he mentioned the possibility of my having Irritable Bowel Syndrome.   (See the National Digestive Diseases Clearinghouse's good intro to IBS.)

We also talked about constipation as a cause of many of my symptoms, including the nausea  (I agree -- I have definitely noticed a link between the two in my experience) and "stress" is still a prime suspect in triggering the whole cycle.  (I agree with this as well.)   Dr. C. notes I could also be suffering from the horrible sounding condition,"fecal retention" -- my brain/muscles become conditioned to "holding it in" for whatever reason, and this becomes a bad habit, translating into chronic constipation or the equally hideous term, "incomplete voiding."  It's especially irritating because my diet is very high in fiber -- I shouldn't have this problem!

At some point soon, I am supposed to schedule my first colonoscopy.   (For a good "first time" story, see CNN correspondent Lisa O'Neill's account.)  I'm fascinated by the thought of seeing my guts -- but the process upsets me -- ingesting that substance, spending 24 hours "prepping" for the procedure, getting to the doctor after 24 hours of fasting and exuding.  And the colonoscopy itself is a little scary and overwhelming, let's face it.  In Lisa's account, Dr. Anthony Kalloo at Johns Hopkins admits "It's a potentially embarrassing procedure. It's not like an eye exam in terms of personal exposure."  But wondering if "anything else" is going on aside from IBS and bile reflux makes me want to bear it.  I'll be less stressed after a good diagnosis.  (And if the results are not good -- then we can tackle something specific, right?)

MOTILITY ON THE CLOCK

Let's talk motility.  I know I am having major timing issues.   In the morning, I exercise, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, and head to the subway to get to work.   I'm supposed to fit in my bathroom hygiene in there somewhere.  As the clock ticks, I get more and more anxious -- "I need to use the bathroom" vs "But I have to get ready to leave!" -- and I can literally feel my bowels stop and contract.  "Time's up!!"  I have not mastered the art of using public bathrooms for complex tasks, so the anticipation of feeling bloated and full all day creates additional stress.   My mornings and days escalate into panic mode.   I become fixated on "using the bathroom."  What a cycle!

Ideally, I'd just remedy anything in the evening, but the timing issue returns.    The best plan for managing reflux involves cooking my own food, and eating early.  I don't get home until around 6:15 or 6:30 PM due to my commute, so I need to get into the kitchen right away.  Once again, rushing around means no attention to my bowels.

There are solutions:

• I could eat out or get take out, but that compromises my nutrition -- restaurant food is (almost) always going to be more fatty, too meat-centric, more salty, more spicy, and overall not-as-healthy as home cooking.  
• What about places that are healthy?  There is the Whole Foods salad bar fare, but how many gigante beans and macrobiotic dumplings can one eat?  (If I lived above Angelica Kitchen or Souen, I might have a different point of view.)  I suppose I can explore this more. 
• Bring prepared food home.  A variation on eating out -- I could pick up brown rice from the Whole Foods hot bar and mix it at home with greens.  (But this seems silly to me -- why not just there, why bother half-cooking?)
• Cooking in batches.   I usually make a few dishes at once on Sunday so the first few day of the week are less hectic.  I make pots of beans and freeze them, cook up soups, bake casseroles, and make my own "frozen lunches."  
• Take Miralax or a similar "gentle" medication.  I don't like this idea.  This addresses the symptom but is, in my mind, a temporary solution.   I need to address the cause.  I'm not going to rely on medication every day.
• "Retrain" my schedule to a later hour -- see if my bathroom hygiene can take place post-dinner.

It's all easier written/said than done.  Freshly prepared food is just so much BETTER.    Isn't it?   I love to cook, even if I'm a little bit tired.  It's de-stressing, creative, and the results are usually worth it.   And after a long day, the whole bowel issue is tiresome - I just want to relax, not worry about my body again!

The Plan for now:  book the colonoscopy, try to relax about the whole "going to the bathroom" issue and make time/experiment with new timing, and continue to eat well and mindfully.

MORE MOTILITY READING

• Merck Manual, Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• In Potholes in Your Colon, Dr. Chutkan talks about diverticulitis and how that can affect bowel movements.
• Read a recent peer-reviewed article on the subject:  Leung, Riutta, Kotecha and Rosser, Chronic Constipation: An Evidence-Based Review.   J Am Board Fam Med July-August 2011, vol. 24 no. 4, pp.436-451.  
• The Bristol Stool Chart
• WebMD's The Scoop on Poop

Detox Recipe for the New Year: Carrot, Fingerling Potato and Parsley Soup

Carrot, fingerling potato, and parsley soup

Happy New Year!   I took a few weeks away from my blog to immerse myself in the Christmas season, with all its busy-ness, festive obligations, and visits with family and friends.    

THE HOLIDAYS AND MY CRANKY GUTS: SHORT UPDATE

Like many people, I veered away from my usual diet during the holidays -- more cheese/dairy, more sweets, less locally sourced foods, more food overall -- and had a few moments of extreme nausea and bloating, and constipation followed me into the new year.  I'm still experiencing occasional vomiting episodes -- scary! -- that seem to be related to eating too much, or eating too late.   I have to be vigilant about this.    I've not yet scheduled my first colonoscopy -- suggested by Dr. C. even though I'm not quite at the "colonoscopy age" yet, just to be sure nothing concerning is going on.  We're both convinced most of my issues are related to "stress" but if there is a pathological reason, we need to address it.   I'll deal with scheduling something after mid-January, when work deadlines subside; right now, it is a madhouse (which of course is probably contributing to my cranky guts - the circle continues!).

Soup underway!

BACK ON TRACK:  CARROT, FINGERLING, AND PARSLEY SOUP

After Christmas, I was eager to get back to cooking, and the greenmarkets.  I regularly shop at two greenmarkets that are open year round.  I'm fascinated by cold weather produce, and the challenge of cooking seasonally.  There's the occasional bag of frozen spinach and imported citrus, but mostly we rely on the winter root cellar: carrots, potatoes, turnips, apples, pears, and the rest of winter's pragmatic tubers and other produce.    Craving lots of vegetables and something easy to digest, I came up with this  tasty, GERD-friendly, nourishing blended soup (one of my New Year's Resolutions -- to use my immersible blender more often!).  I had this four four days in a row -- a great "detoxing" start to 2013!

Ingredients:

Sourced from your local greenmarket or farm

4 large cloves garlic (if you have small cloves, use more), pressed or finely chopped 

1 small onion, chopped 

4 medium to large carrots, sliced and chopped 

5-6 fingerling potatoes, quartered 

1 generous handful fresh parsley, chopped 

Olive oil

Water

1. Heat olive oil in soup pot and add garlic.  Cook over low heat until fragrant and softened.
2. Add onion.  Cook until softened.
3. Stir in carrots.  Cover with lid and cook until just softened.  Stir to prevent sticking/burning.
4. Add water to cover vegetables by about one inch.  Add potatoes and a few tablespoons of parsley.
5. Bring to boil and then simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are soft.
6. Add remaining parsley and cook for a few minutes.  Using immersible blender, blend until desired consistency.
7. Before serving, sprinkle with a few parsley leaves.

Variations:  I'm going to try this recipe again, varying it with celeriac, sunchokes, and other roots, or different potatoes (though the fingerlings are just divine in a soup).   A version of this with acorn or butternut squash might work.  I think turnips or parsnips might be too harsh for the flavor I'm trying to achieve here, and I may omit the onion next time.   I'm always interested in adding apples to savory dishes, and wonder how they would go here? 

Storage:  I divided the soup into portions for two and for one using my new Pyrex storage containers (yay, Santa!).  I did not freeze these, wanting to keep the mellow flavor away from any freezer burn.   

Cooling on the window ledge.