Walnut and Mushroom Gravy

Last night for dinner I used a recipe for lentil and brown rice loaf that I found on the web. I am not linking to it because I was not at all happy with the results. The loaf was so soft that I had to cook it almost 2 hours to make it something that was firm enough to be edible. Does anyone have a lentil and brown rice loaf recipe that they like? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I haven’t made one of these since college and have no idea where I got that recipe or where it went.

With that being said the lentil loaf definitely needed gravy. Since I love mushrooms and walnuts I decided to use the cashew gravy recipe that we love and substitute walnuts and add mushroom powder as an experiment. Major success! This may be my best vegan gravy yet. We loved the flavor of this. If you are missing gravy give this a try. Here is the gravy I made last night.

Walnut and Mushroom Gravy
Makes 10 servings of approximately ¼ cup each

Ingredients:

½ cup oatmeal, ground into flour in your blender
½ cup walnuts, soaked at least an hour (longer is fine)
2 cups water, divided or more depending on texture of gravy (see instructions below)
2 tablespoons mushroom powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
1 teaspoon onion flakes (for a more intense onion kick)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

In your blender combine the ground oatmeal, walnuts, 1 cup of water and mushroom powder. Process the mixture until it is smooth. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat until it thickens. You will need more water than the 1 cup. I specify one cup because I use the additional water that is needed to clean the blender. I add a second cup of water and run the blender again to clean what is left in the blender. Add the thyme, onion, garlic, salt and pepper to the pot to taste. Continue to cook to thicken the gravy and blend the flavors. I simmered this for about 15 minutes while Dan was on his way home from work. The thyme flavor will seem too intense when it is first added but it mellows out with the heat and becomes a nice background flavor. If the gravy forms a skin on top use your whisk to incorporate it back into the sauce. Serve the gravy hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 55.38
Calories From Fat (59%) - 32.9

Total Fat - 3.94g
Saturated Fat - 0.38g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 95.89mg
Potassium - 61.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 4.69g
Fiber - 1.04g
Sugar - 0.28g
Protein - 1.47g

Comments:

This gravy turned out amazing, so much better than the sum of its parts. I was so surprised by how good this is. It tastes nothing like walnuts but is instead rich and creamy. I highly recommend this gravy. It would be wonderful on top of baked potato or rice. If you want to make it more “meaty” add a little Worcestershire sauce for flavor.

Unrelated note:

Today is going to be another rushed one for me. Our friend Phil is in town from Missouri again. Yay! Of course this means dinner out and a few hours of fabulous conversation. We love when Phil is in town; he is such a pleasure to spend time with.

I have to do a few things around here before I start getting ready for dinner tonight. I should be back sometime later today.  I hope you are all having a fabulous day.  :-)