Turkey and Lentil Meatloaf

This Project Pantry January is going to be going on until at least Purim.  I'll be honest, I miss grocery shopping every 3 to 4 days.  Only going when I can't avoid it is weird, but having two weeks on hand did save me when I had to do a Covid isolation.  (I was mostly recovered by the time the test came back positive, which didn't keep my family from freaking out.)  It's way cheaper and keeps me from buying anything unnecessary.  It's having a basket full of bananas all the time that I miss the most.  It isn't worth shopping if that's the only thing I need.

I've had a pound of ground turkey in the freezer for quite some time.  It was only $1.88, so I figured I'd use it eventually.  The goal of this recipe was to use that.  While I was at it, I thought I'd come up with a way to bring in brown lentils for nutrition.  I find their flavor similar to that of turkey, and wondered if putting lentil mash in as part of the filler would help disguise it for child-feeding purposes.

I'm also using the last of the gravy that came with the Thanksgiving turkey breast.  I don't know why they included a packet that made enough for a 14 lb turkey.  It has been in and out of the freezer a couple of times.  I don't even routinely put gravy on my meatloaf.  I was raised by people who used ketchup.

The greens on the side are what was supposed to be my Christmas salad.  It took my lettuces a lot longer to grow than I expected.  Just a hybrid Romaine and some arugula.

*1/3 C dry brown lentils
*1/4 C breadcrumbs
1 egg
*1/4 C fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 C fresh parsley leaves
1/2 C chopped onion
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
*1 lb ground turkey
*Gravy, ketchup, or other sauce for serving

1.  Rinse and sort lentils.  Simmer in water to cover by 1" until tender and splitting.  Drain.  This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

2.  Start preheating oven to 350º.  Add lentils to food processor, along with breadcrumbs, egg, cilantro, parsley, onion, salt, pepper, and cumin.  Pulse into a coarse paste.

3.  Your choice.  Either transfer paste into a bowl and knead into ground turkey for a more firm texture, or dump the turkey into the food processor and go for it.  I was rapidly developing a fever as I was making this and opted for the latter.  Seriously, I was fine when I went outside for the cilantro and lettuce, and had 100º by the time this was done.  And this was after stopping for the Covid test on the way home.

4.  Spread turkey mixture into a loaf pan and bake until center reaches 165º on a food thermometer, about 35 minutes.  Allow to rest 10 minutes.  Slice and serve with topping of choice.

Difficulty rating  :)