Baby it's getting late

Yesterday I promised you vegetarian meatloaf and I intend to deliver on my promise, with interest. A vegetarian meal so good you won't even realize you're missing meat.

Let's start with the main event. I have a little confession here - this recipe is one I had saved to my computer, and I have no idea who it came from. So if this looks familiar, let me know so I can give you credit! I remember saving this recipe into my "Word" file because it said something like "your friends won't even know there's no meat in it!" I saved it because I have a number of vegetarian friends - some year round, and some just during Lent. I like having a dish I can make for mixed company other than my butternut squash lasagna (which gets my friend S through Lent every year). I decided to give this one a chance. My review? This is a good entree, but there's no way anyone would mistake this for meat. Thatboy kept telling me it smelled like banana bread (but we all know he's nuts). It does taste like a really really hearty loaf of thick bread. It went over really well.

Next came the sides - steamed spinach with lemon juice, butter, salt, and pepper. This is Thatboy's favorite way I make spinach. He claims to not like spinach, but he LOVES it when I make it this way.

And vegetarian baked beans. Start with the can of baked beans, add brown sugar, chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard and you're good to go. Thatboy was SO excited when he saw the beans on the stove. It's the first time I've made them and I had no idea they were one of his favorite things ever. Between the loaf, the spinach, and the beans he couldn't have been a happier camper.

Vegetarian "Meatloaf"

• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 cup walnuts, ground
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp sage

1. Preheat oven to 350. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
2. Spray loaf pan with nonstick spray. Pour mixture into dish.
3. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let cool till it can be removed easily onto plate.

Serves 2.
Each serving has:

Calories		549.7
Total Fat		34.9 g
Cholesterol		213.7 mg
Sodium		335.7 mg
Potassium		555.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		44.6 g
Protein		20.2 g