It's Nuts! (The Loaf, That Is)

  We were recently invited to a friend's home for dinner, and to my delight, she prepared  the most delicious, nutty non-meat loaf I've ever eaten. I could not wait to try making one myself, and Thanksgiving gave me the perfect excuse.

  Each year, as vegetarians, I've tried to find some recipe or another that would satisfy us as a substitute for the bird. Last year at Christmas, I made this vegetable strada, which was great….but I wanted to try the amazing  nut loaf that we had enjoyed at our friend's house. Turns out, it is a Deborah Madison/Tassajara cookbook creation. At least, that is what I came across trying to find the recipe….

  We always make little piglets of ourselves with the yummy side dishes, like everyone else, and could be happy just eating those, but I do like to have something that passes as a main dish sort of thing, to join the big bird at the table. 

  This is it. 

  And let me tell you, it's worth the effort to make it. Though I haven't included each and every step here, I did manage, between many other chores, to take photos while I was preparing and assembling my favorite new recipe….. which you will find a link to at the bottom of this post.

  

Dried porcini soaking in hot water.
Before….

…and after. Drained and chopped fine.

  Before I go on, I recommend that you read the entire recipe (below, at bottom) before you start. I like to have all the many components ready to use in a dish like this. It's just easier for me. Plus, I get a certain pleasure out of seeing all the ingredients lined up, ready to get all mixed together.

  Ok, where were we….oh yeah…. nuts...

Toast up your walnuts and cashews, to get that extra roasty flavor developing.
Before….

…and after you have chopped them fine. Yes, I used my food processor here.

  This is not a vegan recipe, just so you know….there is cheese. Both various grated cheeses and cottage cheese. Oh, eggs, too. 

  Sorry, my vegan pals….I am one hundred percent certain that you have a dynamite "no meat loaf" recipe that is vegan, and I would love, love, love to have that recipe.

  That being said…we add our cheese. You can use one kind, or in this case, I had some gruyere and parmesan left over from some other dishes we were making, which I mixed in with the sharp cheddar, that was the main cheese I used.

  

Mushrooms, nuts, cheese….you can't go wrong.

  This is when I got busy with a couple of other things I was helping fix, and I put the camera aside for a few steps…mainly the addition of cottage cheese, cooked brown rice and beaten eggs. ("beaten eggs" always sounds so….well…violent and mean to me. Sigh.)

  Anyway, everyone knows what rice, eggs and cottage cheese looks like, si?

  I skipped outside to rampage through Mom & Dad's herb garden to get just enough sage, marjoram and thyme, some parsley, too……chop fine...

Herb-y goodness!

All the above and more get mixed in a big bowl….

Spread into a loaf pan…AND….

Ta-Daa!
Now that's what I'm talking' about.

  A dish truly fit for the Holiday table. I sliced it up into several pieces before bringing it to the table, which was barely able to hold more….

In fact, I ended up putting it on a side table…..but you can see my yummy veg gravy here,
along with lots of other tasty holiday treats!

  This year was great. We had lots of helping hands….salad, cranberry sauce, and cake from the young folk, turkey and dressing from big brother, mashed and roasted things from dad, cauliflower goodness from mom….It was a real family affair, for sure. 

  And I only had one….ummm…two helpings. Of everything. And salad at the end.

  And some pie. And cake.

  

I was so excited about eating that my hands were shaking. A rather blurry shot, I'm afraid…
But doesn't it look good? Doesn't it look like Thanksgiving?

  I can't wait for Christmas.

Here's the nut/cheese loaf recipe, so you can try it, too:
Nut/Cheese Loaf Recipe