Saturday: Unattractive but delicious dinner

Mashed purple potatoes and "lentil loaf."

Ok, this dinner is, in fact, ugly. (Nykki saw it, looked concerned, and inquired whether I was eating play-doh.) But we've really been struggling with incorporating mashed potatoes into our mostly-vegetarian diet. Mashed potatoes go well with steak, fried chicken, pork chops...name a meat and they make a good side. But if you're not eating a chunk of protein, what to pair it with?

Our latest attempt at a complement was this vegetarian "meatloaf" substitute, which incorporated brown lentils, red quinoa, grated carrot and ginger, bread crumbs, and a little tomato paste. The recipe is linked to above, though as you can see we made a few substitutions. The result was one of the denser foodstuffs we've ever encountered, but honestly I think it might be superior to the food it was replacing...and it did go well with the potatoes.