STL Vegetarian

Recipes

From the archives, 1910 · 40 min · 8 cakes

Wheldon’s lentil cakes

Red lentils, onion, gravy, fried in nut fat. Grape-Nuts as written, or extra crumbs. About $6 for a skillet.

Home-cook price: About $6 for 8 cakes · typical St. Louis grocery, not a quote

Wheldon’s lentil cakes

Sample image — a modern plate in the spirit of the 1910 recipe, not a photo from the book.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz red lentils (about 1¼ cups dry)
  • 3 oz Grape-Nuts cereal, or ¾ cup extra dry breadcrumbs
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Marmite or vegan gravy / bouillon
  • Breadcrumbs to bind
  • Coconut oil or olive oil for frying (for 1910 “Nutter”)
  • Salt

Method

  1. 1Simmer lentils in the smallest amount of water until soft and almost dry, 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
  2. 2Mix lentils, chopped onion, Grape-Nuts or crumbs, gravy essence, and enough extra crumbs to make a stiff paste. Salt.
  3. 3Form cakes. Fry in a thin film of coconut or olive oil until both sides are brown, 3–4 minutes a side.
  4. 4Serve with the vegetable soup, or with mashed potatoes. Seedz is the brunch if the skillet feels like work.

Public domain · 1910

The 1910 plate

Adapted from “13. Lentil Cakes” in No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet, with Vegetable Recipes by Rupert H. Wheldon (1910). US public domain. Read the book.

Original: 8 oz red lentils, 3 oz Grape-Nuts, 1 small onion, 1 teaspoon gravy essence, breadcrumbs. Cook lentils dry, chop onion, mix stiff, fry in Nutter, serve with gravy. Grape-Nuts cereal is still vegan; extra toasted crumbs work. Nutter was a British nut cooking fat — use coconut oil or olive oil. Gravy essence: a spoon of Marmite or a vegan bouillon.

Buy it in St. Louis

Independents first. Prices are typical shelf, not a live feed.

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Skip the stove

This plate is in conversation with Seedz Cafe in DeMun.

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