Here is my very favorite Thanksgiving main dish. It bursts with flavor from the variety of herbs and vegetables. The cashews add a richness and make it quite satisfying. I will take a more elegant picture of this year’s dish. This picture was taken as a family memory, because Mamaguru didn’t exist last Thanksgiving. It is truly amazing and I hope many of you try it. Serves 8
Harvest Nut Loaf
Author: Rebecca Cofiño for Mamaguru
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: American
Forget Tofurkey. This Nut Roast has all the flavors of fall, so you can skip the weird processed food for your vegetarian main dish this Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
- 2 onions
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots
- 1 leek
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 c mushrooms
- 3 c unsalted cashews (raw is fine as nuts will be baked)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten (vegans may omit this entirely, or add an egg substitute)
- about 1½ c dried bread cubes (Cut up good quality bread and leave it out overnight.)
- (maybe 1 c vegetable stock)
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ c chopped fresh herbs, including parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
- 3 whole sage leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Oil the sides of a large loaf pan and place sage leaves nice-side down.
- To prep vegetables, chop onions, carrots, celery and leek of into a small dice. Wipe mushrooms with a damp cloth, then put them in a food processor and pulse a few times. Prep nuts and bread (Separately!) by also pulsing in the food processor. You're aiming for a minced texture. Don't overdo it or nuts will turn into butter.
- In a large pan, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil over a medium flame. Once hot, add the onions and a generous pinch of sea salt. Saute for about 4 minutes until soft, but not browned. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add carrot and a pinch of sea salt. Saute 1 minute. Do the same with the leek, celery and mushrooms. Giving a pinch of salt and a moment of glory to each veggie helps to develop their individual flavors. Saute for another couple of minutes. Taste and season with pepper and more sea salt, if needed. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and herbs. Mix well.
- At this point you will need to use your judgement in terms of the amount of stock and bread crumbs to add. It all depends on the amount of liquid in the vegetables. Add eggs and bread crumbs. Stir. If mixture is dry, add some stock. If it is too wet, add more bread crumbs. You are aiming for a moist texture that binds everything together, sort of like (dare I say it) meatloaf.
- Put nut mixture into the prepared pan, being careful not to mess up your sage leaves. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Place your serving platter on top of the pan. Carefully invert and remove the pan. Serve with Wild Mushroom Gravy.
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