Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is a time to celebrate family, friends and everything we are grateful for. We are truly thankful for our friends, as most of our family is in far away places. Oh, and Thanksgiving is also about food and sharing that abundance.
These days V prefers to go out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving as he does not want me slaving in the kitchen, nor does he want to. But until a few years back, I loved to have friends over for all-vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners, and one of the entrees I loved to feature was a scrumptious vegetarian nut loaf.
I had almost forgotten about the recipe, but life is full of coincidences! A dear friend of mine who had enjoyed the dish a long, long time back, was doing her fall cleaning and found the recipe with a hand-written note from me!
Of course I had to make it again this year! I modified it quite a bit to cut down the amount of cheese and nuts, and increase the amount of mushrooms. I also cooked the rice in a herbal broth instead of plain water to give it a lovely aroma. It ended up tasting just as delicious as I remembered it!
Recipe for Mushroom-Walnut-Cheese Loaf: A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Entree
Adapted from Cheese and Nut Loaf recipe on MarthaStewart.com
[Printable Recipe]
Ingredients:
- 1 generous bunch rosemary and 1 bunch thyme
- 1 cup brown rice, washed and soaked overnight
- 2 Tbsp butter or ghee + more for greasing a casserole dish
- 1 medium onion, minced fine
- 6 cloves garlic, minced fine
- 12 oz shiitake mushrooms, chopped small
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 6 oz gruyere cheese, grated
- 1 cup parsley, chopped and packed tightly
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Cook the rice the day before or at least a few hours before:
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the rosemary and thyme bunches. Let it simmer for more than an hour until it reduces to about 1.5 cups. Strain out the rosemary and thyme and discard.
- Cook the soaked rice with 1.5 cups of the broth instead of plain water
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spread butter on a 9″ x 4.5″ casserole dish and set aside
- In a saute pan, melt the butter or ghee and add the onions and garlic. When soft, add the mushrooms and cook for 10 mins until the mushrooms are fully cooked
- Lightly beat 4 eggs and set aside
Assemble the ingredients:
- Mix the cooked rice, saute’d veggies, eggs, cottage cheese, gruyere cheese, parsley, and walnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pack in to the casserole dish
- Bake the loaf for 1 hour until it is firm to touch. Let it sit for 20 mins to cool.
- Slice and serve with your favorite sides!
