Wow, wow, wow. So I LOVE banh mi, Vietnamese sandwiches made on fresh warm baguettes and spread with pate and topped with picked carrots and daikon, slice jalapenos and cilantro sprigs. The outside is warm, the inside cool, the pate umami-ish. Give me some extra! That is what I miss on a vegetarian banh mi, the pate. Until now.

I made David Lebovitz’s Faux Gras: vegetarian mushroom, lentil and walnut pate, and I’m telling you, it is spot on! Now I can make a proper vegetarian banh mi. Recipe coming…

I made tiny tweaks in my rush around the kitchen, but it’s almost the same 🙂

2 cups cooked lentils (brown or green)
1 cup toasted walnuts toasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion chopped
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
Juice squeezed from a lemon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 tablespoons fresh sage
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cognac
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

1. Cook your lentils. I added 1 cup of lentils and 3 cups water to a pressure cooker and cooked on high until the first whistle, then on low for 5 minutes, then naturally let it depressurize. There were a little more than 2 cups of lentils, you can save the extra for something else (throw them in some soup!).
2. Toast the walnuts. I used the toaster oven for just a few minutes.
3. Add olive oil and butter to a saute pan and saute the onions until somewhat caramelized, then add the mushrooms and saute until soft.
4. Throw the onion and mushroom mixture into a food processor along with the lentils, walnuts, lemon juice, soy sauce rosemary, thyme, sage, chili powder, brown sugar, and cognac. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.