What is “Beluga Bread” you may ask?
It’s a bread-like invention using black Beluga lentils (of course haha)! These small black lentils were on sale at the local health store and I just had to try them. I’ve professed my love for lentils previously so you can imagine my excitement when I saw a black variety to experiment with! I know these lentils aren’t extremely rare but I had never seen them in a grocery store before and couldn’t pass them up.
Bread was definitely on the to-do list since I made several versions before:
“Angry bread” and “black bread” have a more ominous tone and I was in a happy mood so “Beluga Bread” it was 🙂 It had been awhile since I last enjoyed this flatbread and I was not disappointed in the least! Filling, satisfying and delicious, I ate part of the bread alongside my chicken salad-salad at lunch, slathered it with hummus for a snack and as an accompaniment to a bowl of wild rice soup for dinner…I will be making this again pronto!
Beluga Bread (Grain-free, Vegan) adapted from my Lentil Flatbread
Ingredients
2/3 cup black beluga lentils
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 cup water
generous pinch(s) of salt (this is your main seasoning so don’t skimp)
2-3 Tbsp coconut oil, olive oil, butter, Earth Balance or ghee (use oil or EB for vegan)
your favorite herbs or spices, optional
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a small blender with grind attachment, food processor or a spice grinder, add lentils and grind to a flour. (I use my Magic Bullet with the flat blade).
3. Add the coconut oil (or oil/butter of choice) to a 8×8 or 9×9 pan* and let melt in the oven and warm (about 2 minutes). Meanwhile, add flaxseed meal, water and salt to ground lentils and blend again for about 15 seconds. It should resemble a thick but pourable pancake batter after it sits (the flax and lentils will start absorbing the water the longer it sits).
4. When oil is hot and melted, pour batter into the pan and spread with a spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the bread forms a crust. Let cool slightly, cut and enjoy warm!
Bread can be refrigerated and toasted to reheat if needed.
*You can make the bread thick or thin by choosing your baking dish and add herbs and spices for different flavor variations. I prefer a medium thickness instead of a pizza crust thinness because I like the slightly crunchy outsides and a middle with a slight chew. If you prefer a crisper texture throughout, baking a larger pan or divide batter into two loaf pans. You will need to reduce cooking time for thinner bread, and in turn increase cooking time for thicker (about 5 minutes).
With the roasted red pepper hummus on top, it could definitely pass for a Halloween bread – don’t you think?
Natural Noshing 
haha so cool! I was wondering what a beluga bread was… first thing that came to mind was the whale and I was like ummm?? It totally COULD pass as Halloween bread. Maybe you could use the same mixture to make Halloween cupcakes in Oct?
Whale bread HAHA! 🙂 That would be interesting!
It’s a very dense bread and not soft so I would need to add some eggs to “fluff it up” a bit for cupcakes – great idea though! I should play around with it! 🙂 thanks Leanne, you always have amazing ideas!
Great recipe! I am going to try this today… I’ve used chickpeas and red lentils in flat breads before, but not beluga so I am intrigued 🙂
I hope you like it! It’s not a soft,typical bread – but more like a dense flatbread or socca 🙂
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award =)!
For more details: http://sensualappeal.wordpress.com/
🙂
AHHHH! That’s SOOOO exciting! Thank you thank you! I’ve never been nominated for anything like that so you just made my week! 🙂 I’m completely honored!
Oh my gosh really? I expected you to have had so many nominations already, i adore your blog!
You are too cute 🙂 I adore you so I’d say we are even!
I make your lentil bread once a week (with red lentils, mostly0. It is great with nut butter or as a pizza base! Thanks for the pictures of this pretty variety.
I am so glad you like this recipe as much as me!! It’s different and not the typical bread but satisfies that bread craving when I have none in the house – plus it’s delicious plain or with toppings 🙂
*shaking my head in disbelief* I want to live in the brain of Nora for a day. I will take notes, quickly pick up on a few new things, and adapt what I learned from my findings inside the genius mind of Natural Noshing. Lentil bread??? AAAHHHHHHHHHH. GENIUS.
Miss Cara you are a genius yourself!!!! 🙂 We would have a blast in the kitchen together, wouldn’t we?!? THat would be one wild and crazy adventure and I would love every second of it! XO
Waiting for the Frozen Moose to move to California…
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This looks AMAZING! I have a bunch of beluga lentils I’m trying to use up in various ways. This may be a silly question, but do you cook the lentils first or grind them uncooked? Thanks!