The Substitute

The day I saw the video (see last post), and realized that I wanted zero part in the abuse and slaughter of animals, is also the day that I had taken out.......ground beef....for supper. What was I going to do? Since that post, I have been able to reduce my meat consumption, but I cannot lie, and tell you that I will ever be completely vegetarian, or vegan. I did decide, however, to buy humanely produced products whenever possible. Back to the ground beef.  There was NO way I was eating meat loaf that night - so I had to make a creative substitution for myself, that was tasty, satisfying, and did not raise Dear Husbands' eyebrows .....e.g., what on EARTH are you eating over there?  So I started with getting the regular meat loaves done - I could not very well waste it, after all. 

The ground beef - to which I added Panko bread crumbs, one egg, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce. Now, it was time to lightly saute some celery, onion and garlic in olive oil to mix into the meat for the loaves. I figured I would just save some of this mixture for my "meat" loaf....

I then put some split yellow peas into water, and boiled them until tender...

I also put on some fresh corn to simmer...

And rolled some baking potatoes in extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and got them into a 350 degree oven to bake.

I then mixed the tender veggies with the meat mixture (completely forgetting to save some for my loaf)....

And made it into miniature loaves, so that I could freeze some for Dear Husband...

I quickly sauteed some green onions, garlic and celery in olive oil, while the regular meat loaves were going into the oven (covered with the usual mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar), and got my split yellow peas ready for a good mashing...

I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley to the mash....

 

Then, mixed in my own saute of green onion, garlic, and celery....

 

Now, to the fun part! I made this mixture into a loaf approximately the same size and shape as the actual meat loaves....

Then, covered it with the same ketchup mixture that I had used on the meat loaves. This went into the oven with about 15 minutes left until the meat loaves and baked potatoes were done! Here's what they looked like when all emerged from the oven...

The results? My plate is on the left in the next photo...

Here is Dear Husbands' serving....

And here is mine....

My absolute favorite part was the crispy, crunchy bottom of my loaf ! The texture and taste were absolutely fantastic! In fact, I never actually told Dear Husband about what I had seen earlier that day, and my anti-meat mood at the moment....and most interestingly - he never.....even.....noticed, that my loaf was different than his!

The moral of the story is that - I was able to serve a completely average-looking and tasting meal, cook my "special" loaf simultaneously, and have a tasty and guilt-free supper.  I went three nights without meat last week, and aim to consistently reduce my animal protein consumption.  There was only one um, teeny......weenie.....little problem. It was, well, ah.....let's put it this way.....if a certain company that has a product that rhymes with "mean-o" has a truckload of the items back up to my door, I will not argue with them.....if you get my drift, and I know you do. :)

Eat well, my friends, stay tuned for our next Something From Nothing post, and the Kitchen Angels' Spring surprise!

Love and kindness to all,

Pixie