Holiday Cashew Nut Loaf

Submitted by Sharon123

"This tastes a little like stuffing, and is perfect for a holiday buffet. Layered eggplant is an intriging contrast to the nuts. This makes an eye popping entree and may be served with cranberry sauce and gravy. Adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, sliced
• 88.74 ml olive oil
• 118.29 ml brown rice
• 473.18 ml raw cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 large tomatoes
• 6 slice rye bread, toasted and crushed into crumbs
• 118.29 ml vegetable broth
• 9.85 ml brewer's yeast
• 14.79 ml fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 2 teapoons fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 2.46 ml fresh lemon juice

directions

1. Preheat oven to broil. Brush eggplant slices with 2 tbls. oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, and broil 5 to 7 minutes. Turn eggplant slices, and broil 5 more minutes, or until slices are tender and light brown. Set aside, and lower oven heat to 350*F.
2. Cook rice, following package directions, and set aside. Meanwhile, heat remaining 4 tbls. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute cashews, onion and garlic in oil 5 to 7 minutes, or until onion is soft and brown. Chop one tomato, and add to skillet; cook 3 more minutes.
3. Transfer cashew mix to large bowl. Stir in cooked rice, breadcrumbs, broth, brewer's yeast, basil, thyme and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Coat a 9"x13" oval baking dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the dish with half of the broiled eggplant slices. Spoon in cashew mixture. Top with remaining eggplant slices. Slice remaining 2 tomatoes, and layer down center of casserole to form a broad, bright red stripe.
5. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is brown and filling is hot. Serve immediately. Enjoy.
6. !

Reviews

[Wish I Could Cook]

This was excellent! I made the filling the day before so it came together really fast the night we were having it. I wasn't happy with with my "decorating" with the eggplant, but flavor-wise this can't be beat! I'm going to put this one in the good enough for company book for sure! I served is with recipe # 334009 and the combination is perfect!

 

[bluemoon downunder]

What a fabulously flavoursome and versatile recipe! As soon as I read this recipe, it reminded me of a divinely flavoured vegetable terrain I ate in a restaurant a few months ago and have been intending to have a go at duplicating. I made one modification to make it closer to that: I added 4 cups of chopped mushrooms in step 1. I then added these to the cashew mixture in step 3. The rice had been omitted from the list of ingredients, so I settled on using 2 cups of an arborio/wild rice blend, which was an ideal quantity with the other ingredients, especially since I’d added mushrooms. And the wild rice provided a nice textural variation. I used only 2 tablespoons of oil in step 3 (in a non-stick pan), and I doubled the garlic. The toasted rye bread (I used dark rye bread) made delicious breadcrumbs. It was years since I’d included brewer’s yeast in a recipe (though I used to include it in lots of recipes at one time). I also added two tablespoons of flaxseed meal (for added nutrition) and ½ teaspoon of Australian dried and ground bush tomato (well, nothing was measured, but that’s approximately what I added!), and I used the juice of one lemon. I layered the eggplant slices and cashew mixture as instructed but decided on using two extra tomatoes to cover the top of the loaf with tomato slices generously sprinkled with freshly ground pepper. This is a 5+++++ recipe. Everyone loved it. The only change I’ll make next time will be to add some sliced red pepper. So many possibilities! Thank you, Sharon123, for sharing what is now a new favourite recipe! This also tastes so yummy at room temperature that we’ve decided against putting any in the freezer. With the temperature over 100°, I am looking forward to having at room temperature for dinner tonight. Next time I’m going to have to double the recipe! And that’s going to be soon!