Thursday, March 5, 2009

a meatloaf makeover

My newest obsession is library cookbooks.  I could spend hours looking through them for ideas.  I don't, because I have a two year old and my time of pouring over books leisurely is limited to nap time.  And because our trips to the library usually consist of me running after him as he explores the ins and outs of every row of books.  But I digress.

Awhile back I checked out a copy of one of the Cooking Light cookbooks and found a lot of recipes I wanted to try.  The only one I actually did was the Barbecue Meatloaf.  I have never been a huge fan of meatloaf (I mean, just the name is enough to scare you off...), but this was really good.

As usual, I changed it up, mostly by adding a few nutritious extras to make it even more worth eating.  This is a really good dish - my husband absolutely loves it (he asked me today if it was okay to eat for breakfast).  So here it is, folks.  Enjoy!

1.5 lbs extra lean ground beef (ground turkey is great, too)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I quickly put one large slice of multigrain bread in the food processor)
2 T wheat germ (optional)
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided (watch labels for high fructose corn syrup)
1 T prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large egg white + 1 whole egg
cooking spray

Put onion, garlic and carrot in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Or mince by hand if you don't have one.

Combine meat, crumbs, wheat germ, onion mixture, mustard, salt, pepper, eggs and 2-3 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce.

Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Shape mixture into a loaf.

Pour remaining sauce on top and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer registers at 160 degrees in the middle.

Let stand about 10-15 minutes.  Slice into 10-12 slices and serve!
(makes great leftover sandwiches... or breakfast)
Enjoy!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I like the idea of adding wheat germ with the bread crumbs. I use ground turkey when I make meatloaf. Never thought to make it "BBQ" style, though. Very interesting.

ChristineM said...

Mmmm! Sounds good! Much better than MY last meatloaf experiment! (hee hee!)

Tiffany said...

Sounds like a great recipe. I love hiding wheat germ in foods that my kids won't know it's there.

Please stop by my blog, Eat at Home and leave a comment today. Each comment is worth $1 for the Global Food Crisis fund and all you have to do is comment. SITS girls are great at that!

Julie said...

Looks super! I love meatloaf and this would be a lot less "guilty" :)

Cheeky Kitchen said...

It was So good of you to stop by my blog today. THANK YOU!

All the better because...your kind comment led me to your blog. Holy BE-A-UTIFUL! Keep up the beautiful bloggin' (and cookbookin') and feel free to stop by anytime!

Happy Weekend!

Tammy said...

That sounds aso yummy. I'm going to have to try it. - Hi from the SITStahood.