Vegan & Gluten Free Stuffing

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; Time to let bread sit to harden: about 8 hours

NOTE: This is best to make the day-of serving; leftovers are okay, but not as amazing as the day of! The bread cubes however do need to sit out the night before to make this.

Ingredients:

2 ½ packs of Schar’s Sourdough Deli Style Bread (cubed into about 1” cubes and set out in a large bowl to dry overnight)
¾ cup uncooked green lentils
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (or vegan butter)
¾ cup diced celery
3 cups of veggie broth (low sodium, organic preferably) to cook the stuffing–
add up to an extra ½ cup if the stuffing mix is too dry
1 ½ cups of veggie broth (or water) to cook the lentils
1 TBSP flaxseed meal + 2 ½ TBSP hot water (to create the “egg-like” binder)
¾ tsp. dried sage
Sea salt & ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

The night before, cube your bread and put it in a large bowl to dry out. It will get dry, but not solid hard!
Cook the lentils in the 1 ½ cups veggie broth. Rinse the lentils in cold water and add to a small saucepan with the veggie broth (or you can use water). Bring to a light boil over medium/high heat and then lower the heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes. The lentils should be soft, but not mushy. Remove from the heat and set aside when done cooking.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F and line a 9 x 13 casserole dish or pan with parchment paper or coat with a little coconut oil.
Mix the flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl and set aside.
Saute onion and celery in the olive oil and season with a pinch or more of sea salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring as needed. Set aside the mixture.
In the big bowl that has the bread cubes, add the 3 cups of veggie broth, sage, cooked celery/onion, flax mixture, and lentils. Mix it carefully with a wooden spoon. It should be moist, but not dripping wet. If it isn’t moist enough (the mixture should somewhat “stick” together), add up to ½ cup more of veggie broth. Do this slowly so you don’t overwet it! If it does get too wet, cut up some more bread!
Transfer the mixture to the 9 x13 pan and cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove the foil after 45 minutes so the top can get brown. Turn up the heat to 400 deg. F and bake another 10 – 15 minutes or until the top is crisper and brown.
Remove from the oven and let it cool just slightly before serving. Leftovers will last a couple of days in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave, but this is best fresh!
Serve with vegan mashed potatoes and vegan golden gravy!