vegetarian meatloaf recipe

my fiance is a vegetarian (actually he just started eating seafood) so i really don't cook meat at home that much. and anyway, i don't feel good about using mass produced meat and really shouldn't eat too much saturated fat, so i actually like making lots of fake meat dishes. every time someone tries my vegetarian meatloaf, they say it's really convincing--including my meat 'n' potatoes dad--and a friend just asked me for the recipe, so i thought i'd share what i just took the trouble to write down.

(the ingredients in parentheses are optional, but as many as you add the better.)

first get a package of gimme lean, which is extremely low in calories and has NO fat in it, out of the fridge so it starts warming and softening up.

sautee some onions (celery, mushrooms, garlic) that have been minced pretty fine--otherwise the loaf will fall apart when served--in some olive oil. let cool while you do the other stuff.

grease a bread pan or something like one--your hands will be all dirty later which makes it difficult to do it then.

put into a bowl:
one package of gimme lean
one cup of bread crumbs
one egg
worcestershire sauce *
(barbecue sauce
hoisin sauce
soy sauce
truffle oil).

mix everything--including the cooled veggies--together with your hands--take off your rings first. squeeze and let the mixture squirt through your fingers repeatedly. it's the only way to really get it all blended since the gimme lean is pretty dense.

shape into a loaf and put in pan.

bake at 400 for an hour.

voila!


p.s. we go to this store in chinatown for extremely convincing fake meat. it looks like they ship, too.

*edited to add: i just found out that worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it! but there is a vegetarian kind supposedly.

also: slather some barbecue sauce or ketchup on the top of the loaf before cooking. it caramelizes.