Meat-Vegetable Loaf

Today was a lovely day… first time the temperature crossed 70 this season. And I was in the mood for something on the lighter side for dinner. Like a piece of salmon with some lemon-habanero aioli… With that picture in mind, I set out for the grocery store. I was in the meat and fish section when I saw the shop assistant bringing out fresh ground turkey. Ground up is the best way I like to go with turkey, and it was so fresh. And all my plans underwent a sudden change; when I reached home from the grocery store, I had all the fixings for a meatloaf!

This is not truly a meatloaf… more like a meat vegetable loaf. I add a ton of veggies to the mix. Onion, celery, red and green peppers, green peas, brussels sprouts, green beans, broccoli… these can all go into it, in any combination. In fact, any vegetable that is not too watery like will work. You can use equal quantities of meat and vegetables.

My combination of spices for this meatloaf are rosemary, thyme, dijon mustard, and red chilli powder. If it is summer and my herb garden is growing, I prefer to use the fresh herbs. If not, dried ones will do as well.

So you chop up all the vegetables. And add them to the ground meat. Along with eggs, breadcrumbs and a bit of sour cream. And of course, salt and pepper for seasoning. The beauty of the whole scheme is that there is no hard and fast rule about what can and cannot go into this meatloaf. By the way, has anyone tried a veggie loaf? Could be an interesting thing to try out. 🙂

By the time I had prepared the mix, there was more than could be accommodated in the loaf pan. Easy to pop the remaining mix into ramekins and bake into individual helpings. And these freeze beautifully.

If one doesn’t want to use red meat, a combination of  turkey, chicken and pork will work well. This particular meatloaf I made with just ground turkey.

Served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes, with or without gravy, this meatloaf is absolute yum!

~Ria

Meat-Vegetable Loaf

 

Author: Ria

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Ingredients

• 2 lb ground meat (mix of turkey, chicken and pork)
• 1 onion
• 2 ribs celery
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 handful of frozen green peas
• 1 tsp rosemary (fresh or dried)
• 1 tsp thyme (fresh or dried)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup fine breadcrumbs
• ½ cup sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tomato ketchup for garnishing

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
2. Chop all the vegetables fine.
3. Mince the garlic and herbs.
4. Thaw the frozen green peas.
5. In a large pan, mix together all the ingredients, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Be careful not to overmix.
6. Place the mix into a loaf pan and form the top into a loaf shape.
7. Garnish with tomato ketchup.
8. Bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a skewer into the loaf. If it comes out clean, the loaf is done. If required, bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Let cool for 10 minutes, before slicing. Any extra will freeze well.

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