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You may or may not have seen in the Epic Win thread that my best friend is coming to visit me for about a week. I mentioned to her that I would make meatloaf while she's here since I know it's something we all will eat. I have a slight problem. I make mine with onions in it. She's allergic to onion. I don't know any other way to make meatloaf so it's flavorful.

So, cooks and foodies, give me some ideas please!

www.foodsubs.com suggests:

"white bulbs of leeks OR shallots OR green onions (Cook these for no more than a minute.) OR chopped daikon (salt and rinse first if serving raw) OR garlic OR asafoetida powder [also known as hing](This Indian spice has a strong, pungent flavor and is used as an onion substitute by people who can't eat them for religious reasons.) OR fresh herbs"

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If you want flavor, I'd avoid the daikon. Also, maybe bell peppers?

Thanks Drifter. I'll probably go with garlic and green onion since I have both on hand. I could throw in some bell pepper, too, but I'm not such a fan of how they taste when they're cooked.

Is there a chance she can eat onion seed? Or is she allergic to all alliums in any form?

Kati thinks shallots would be the closest match, if that'll work.

--Patrick

If your friend can take a little heat, try a 1 red, 1 yellow bell pepper, and one jalapeno (thinking about it, you may want to double those peppers.) And Garlic. Use Butter to cook the peppers, cook them much more coolly than you do the onions. You want them to release their flavor not scorch them.

Also try one missing member of the Cajun trinity, celery, slice them fairly thin and "brown" them with the peppers.

Wouldn't she be allergic to green onion too?
Added at: 04:41
de-seeded tomatoes that have been salted and drained could add a bit of flavor too.

sixpackshaker said:

Wouldn't she be allergic to green onion too?

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I thought the same thing. She told me she's never had a problem with food that had green onion in it. That makes me think it's more of an intolerance than a regular allergy (which is a common mistake with food troubles), but that's an untrained, unprofessional opinion. That said, I wonder if some chives would work.

How about cheese? A small amount of grated cheese would be a nice surprise, or dare I suggest it, diced bacon.

Or turnips, turnips would be good. So would potatoes. Lobster and crawdads would be interesting. Then toss in a habanero when they're not looking.

HCGLNS said:

diced bacon.

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You, good sir, may have the greatest suggestion of all!

I asked my mom about this and she said she doesn't put onions in ours. She used to but my sister and I didn't like it. I think she just uses salt, pepper and garlic.