Seems we’ve been eating lots of rich foods lately, so I thought I’d change things up with a heart healthy meal. Now, some might figure low-sodium + low-fat = blah. Plus, why ruin this quintessential comfort food? I know, I used to think that way, but this meatloaf is anything but bland. True, when you’re cutting salt, it can take some time for your palate to adjust. But with all those herbs (along with celery which gives it salty a boost), even my salt-crazy friends went back for seconds.
Initially, we started with the “Makeover Meatloaf” recipe that came with the now defunct Six Week Body Makeover plan, and we’ve had this recipe in heavy rotation ever since. It has evolved, though; the biggest improvement being when Morgan was at the helm and threw in a bunch of fresh basil. Wow. Game changer. At this point, the only remnant of the original recipe is the 2lbs of ground turkey breast, and even that usually gets subbed out for regular ground turkey. The quinoa helps sustain the meaty texture, but feel free to use rice–honestly, any number of leftover starchy sides will do.
How’s that for a sales pitch? Now that I’ve had myself a nice, light dinner, I think I’ll treat myself to a big fat scoop of buttermilk ice cream. What?! 😉
First, get all the chopping out of the way, and add the onion, garlic, celery, and basil to the bowl.
Then stir in the wet stuff–the egg whites and 1 cup of the tomato sauce–plus the dried herbs and pepper. Then add the quinoa and stir.
Next add in the ground turkey, and mix it up until thoroughly blended.
Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, and spread the meatloaf mixture evenly throughout. Stir the smoked paprika into the remaining tomato sauce, and spread that on top.
Pop that baby in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes, and voila! (Let it cool a few minutes before serving.)
Here’s the printable version:
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce (no salt added), divided
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 lbs ground turkey breast
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl, mix together the onion, garlic, celery, basil. Then stir in the egg whites, oregano, thyme, and pepper.
- Mix in 1 cup of the tomato sauce along with the quinoa. Stir in the ground turkey until everything is all blended
- Spray an 9-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, then spread the turkey mixture evenly into the dish.
- Stir the smoked paprika into the remaining tomato sauce, and spread over the top of the meatloaf.
- Bake for 1¼ hours or until done. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love meatloaf and your lightened up dish looks wonderful! The addition of quinoa is brilliant.
Where is the nutritional analysis? I need to KNOW how much sodium is in the food I eat. Do I need to calculate it from each individual ingredient?
Yes, sorry about that–there are online tools that can help you. This site makes it easy by allowing you to automagically import a recipe from the URL–here’s the label for this meat loaf: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/view/46710003
The tool is not perfect–for example, I had to make some modifications to ensure it accurately reflected the ingredients (a couple of the measurements imported wrong), but overall, once you’ve double-checked that the amounts are accurate, this should give you a good reading. This has the sodium at 101 mg/serving or 4%
Here’s the link to import other recipes: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/box
Hope this helps!
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