Vegetarian "Meat"Loaf

The challenge Kiersten and I did for our February challenge was making vegetarian meatloaf. Check out the one she made... it looks really delish! She mentioned her's fell apart and I experienced the same problem, unfortunately. Still, the flavor was really good so it was worth it. I want to try adding more breadcrumbs, egg, or even oatmeal (which I've seen in several veggie meatloaf recipes) as binders the next time I make it in hopes of avoiding it falling apart when it's taken out of the pan.

When we decided on the February theme, I started to look up recipes, and none stood out as looking too fantastic. I decided to try the one I'd grown up with (until I was 16 anyways, which I when I stopped eating meat) but my Dad gave me a different recipe to try instead. It's from Williams Sonoma and it came with a meatloaf pan he'd bought (which I ended up borrowing). I can't find this particular one on their site, but they do have other meatloaf recipes listed.

Here's the one I tried, and how it turned out. (As always, try to buy organic ingredients!)

Classic Meatloaf
Williams Sonoma, slight variation

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 yellow onion, diced

1/2 oz (I used a tad more) dried wild mushrooms (soak in 1 Cup hot water and reserve the liquid)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 bags Morning Star Grillers, Meal Starters (or another ground beef substitute, equivalent to 2 lbs. meat)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme
Salt/Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 Cup Ketchup
3 strips of Morning Star Veggie bacon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350, with the rack set to the lower third of the oven.

In a deep sautee pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add carrots, celery and onion. Sautee for about 10 minutes.

While this mixture sautees, make the bread crumbs. Rip up bread into small pieces and grind up in a food processor or blender and set aside.

This picture will only post sideways... curses!

Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms from the liquid. Chop the  mushrooms into smaller pieces and mince the garlic. Once the veggies have been sauteeing the 10 minutes, add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook 1 minute moreand set aside to cool.

While this cools, mix the breadcrumbs with 1/3 Cup of the reserved liquid. (You may discard the rest.) Let sit 5 minutes so the bread thoroughly absorbs the water.

Once the breadcrumbs are ready and the veggies have cooled, mix all ingredients except for the ketchup in a large bowl.Toss with your hands (I moved to using a spoon after adding in the eggs... too messy!) until thoroughly mixed.

Press the mixture into a bread or meatloaf pan and flatten the top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven, evenly coat the loaf with ketchup, top with veggie bacon (I added this step... veggie bacon improves everything!) and bake for another 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit 5 minutes before serving.

(These aren't the same pictures, believe it or not.)

It's a bit messy, but tastes delicious and fresh, plus it's nice and filling! Next time, I will probably use dried thyme, as the fresh stuff is a bit intense (you definitely don't taste it in every bite though). Still, this recipe was a hit!

Enjoy!