Dinner Starring.....MEATLOAF!

I don't know what inspired me to try to make meatloaf.  I guess it has always seemed liked one of those mountains that needs to be conquered.  What I used to like about meatloaf, primarily being able to drown the beefy goodness in ketchup, is no longer an option due to my tomato allergy.  Not to mention it's contents are generally held together with breadcrumbs and egg.  When I bookmarked Allergic Living's recipe, it planted a seed in my head that maybe I could enjoy meatloaf, even on it's own, without ketchup.  So on my cooking extravaganza that I am performing this holiday season, I set out to give it a go.  Let's say first that it did NOT turn out how I was hoping, but it was decent.  Read the end of the post for my reflections.  Here's how I made the recipe this time:

2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 sweet onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1kg (2 1/4 pounds) raw ground turkey
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax meal, 6 tbsp warm water blended until thick)
1 cup millet cereal
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of each salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a skillet, sauté onions and garlic in vegetable oil until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients including cooled onion and garlic. Mix well and place in a loaf pan.  The original recipe calls for 6 patties to be made, but then it's more like salisbury steak, no?  So it went in a loaf pan. 
4. Place in oven for 60+ minutes or until cooked through.  It takes about 60 minutes for it to cook through but it took an extra 15-20 for it to be drier and not soggy.  BLECH!  Soggy meat.  I served it with spaghetti squash seasoned with vegan butter, salt and pepper (always a success, yum!!).

So like I said, this recipe did not quite turn out.  I can think of a few reasons:
1.  There was just too much turkey.  Who in their right stomach can digest that much ground turkey?  And that was even 0.4kg less than what the recipe called for.  Next time I will half it and it will not need to cook for so long.
2.  I need to cut the onions smaller.  I find it difficult to mince an onion, but I must try harder next time.
3.  I didn't realize it until it was in the bowl with the raw turkey but my stick blender didn't mix my flax egg completely, so that's why it may have been more crumbly. 
4.  There needed to be a higher cereal to turkey ratio (though it looks very strange, it is undetectable in taste).  Less turkey would accomplish this AND maybe I would even sacrifice some of my delicious 100% Rye bread to make breadcrumbs instead of using cereal.  But by next time I may not be so willing to entertain that thought so I might just stick with cereal, hahahaha. 

Overall, it was decent.  Those around me at the lunch table the next day thought it smelled delicious, so there is definitely potential!  Stay tuned in coming months when I try to make this again, you know, when I can look at turkey again after the holiday season.