girlfiend

Meatloaf

One lb meatloaf (pork, beef, veal) mix
One lb ground turkey (white meat or 7% fat)
Half a large vidalia onion or one small white onion chopped
one cup breadcrumbs or rolled oats (you can substitute a slice of bread torn into small pieces)
2/3 cup ketchup
3 large eggs ligthly beaten
fresh herbs- maybe a cup?
salt and pepper to taste- maybe half a teaspoon of each

knead with your hands to mix all ingredients- don’t overmix
bake in a nonstick or well greased loaf pan (free form works if you don’t have one)at 350 in a preheated oven for 60-75 minutes or until meatloaf reaches 160 degrees
drain fat and let sit for a few minutes before serving (serves 8 )

That’s the basic recipe- you can experiment from there. I change and add ingredients every time I make it depending on what’s in my house at the time. You can use any combination of ground meat. I use half turkey to make it slightly healthier. I like the meatloaf mix, but if I only have ground beef it works just as well.

The most important thing for me is the fresh herbs. I usually have fresh rosemary, cilantro, parsley and basil in the freezer (yes I know that’s frozen, not fresh but it’s not dried) and I’ll throw in enough so it looks like every bite will have some green in it. You can substitute with a few teaspoons of dried- any combination of basil, thyme, parsley or Italian seasoning will do- but really, fresh is better.

I throw in some parmesan cheese or mozzarella if the meatloaf’s heavy on Italian herbs.

You can also put a few strips of uncooked bacon on top before baking- Boyfiend loves it because of the bacony goodness and I don’t because it’s not crispy, but it does add some flavor. If you’re going that route you can make a ketchup/brown sugar glaze on top (1/4 cup ketchup mixed with 1/8 cup brown sugar or barbecue sauce if you’re lazy). It’s not my fave, but Boyfiend really likes it. I prefer savory to sweet.

Once you’ve made it a few times, you’ll get a feel for how you like it. Before then, you can take a spoonful of your mix and fry it quickly to see if you like how it tastes and adjust from there. And if you don’t want to cook inside you can make it into patties and grill it outside, like burgers.

While I’m at it, here’s a guacamole recipe. Not related, but it requires no cooking and it’s delicious.

Guacamole

3 ripe avacodos, halved, pitted and peeled
one small onion, chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
one small tomato, chopped
juice of 1 1/2 limes
slightly more than half a cup of fresh cilantro, cut into smallish pieces (Do not substitute with dried. Yuck.)
salt and pepper to taste

Mash the avocado with a potato masher or fork then add the remaining ingredients, mixing until everything’s combined. Serve with tortilla chips.