Mountain Cat
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- Joined
- 12 Apr 2019
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- 3,132
- Location
- Hilltowns of Massachusetts
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- goatsandgreens.wordpress.com
I have never liked the generic dish called “meatloaf”, but I at that time, I was involved in a Farmer’s Market sort of pastured “Meatshare”, and close to half the meat obtained for that six-month membership...was ground meat. Good stuff, but I needed to expand my wings with it.
Noting that the point of meatloaf is that only about half of it is meat, I decided to go with sweet potatoes instead of bread crumbs.
I’ve eaten wonderfully-seasoned meatloaf, but it has always been the bread/loaf part of the dish that bothered me. As if it really didn’t need to be there, and detracted from the dish, by drying out perfectly good meat. Now that I know that a lot of folks eat grain- (or at least, wheat-) free a lot of the time, I’m free to let my imagination run wild. We don’t really need to put bread in our ground meats. We can EXPLORE. Maybe something else will turn up. (There’s a thought: mashed turnip?)
Recipe:
1 large sweet potato. This one was 400 grams on my scale, 350 once I peeled it and removed the ends. I cooked it all, but used approximately 200 grams in my recipe, reserving the rest for other things. Slice it up in about quarter inch thick slivers so this doesn’t take forever to prep. Oh, if you wan to keep the peel on, that’s okay, too. This one was a bit knobby so off it went.
1 pound more or less of ground beef (or lamb, or bison). This one was a little less.
1/2 or so of a small onion (1/4 or so of a large one), diced to whatever level suits you. It doesn’t have to be fine.
1 egg
1.5 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Rosemary leaves, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Pre-heat oven to 450 F, and chop up your sweet potato to the approximately 1/4 or so inch slivers. Put them in foil, mix in the oil and rosemary, and wrap them up in that foil. Bake them for about 30 minutes.
Towards the end of that time, mix up everything else by hand. Break up and add the sweet potatoes (you can mash them to smooth or chunky), mix further, and reduce oven temp to 350 F. Use about 200 grams of the sweet potatoes. Your best bet is to use one of those mini-loaf pans and coat lightly with oil.
Do not cover. Cook at 350 F in the oven for one hour. Serve with lettuce, or other green veggies, raw or steamed.
It does not hold together quite as well as a wheat-based meatloaf, but it tastes better in my opinion. It doesn’t taste exactly like meatloaf, but close enough, and nutritious to boot.
Makes three servings.
Optionally, you can top this with the stereotypic ketchup before baking it, or better yet, a thick homemade tomato sauce with garden herbs. I didn’t, this go-round.
Noting that the point of meatloaf is that only about half of it is meat, I decided to go with sweet potatoes instead of bread crumbs.
I’ve eaten wonderfully-seasoned meatloaf, but it has always been the bread/loaf part of the dish that bothered me. As if it really didn’t need to be there, and detracted from the dish, by drying out perfectly good meat. Now that I know that a lot of folks eat grain- (or at least, wheat-) free a lot of the time, I’m free to let my imagination run wild. We don’t really need to put bread in our ground meats. We can EXPLORE. Maybe something else will turn up. (There’s a thought: mashed turnip?)
Recipe:
1 large sweet potato. This one was 400 grams on my scale, 350 once I peeled it and removed the ends. I cooked it all, but used approximately 200 grams in my recipe, reserving the rest for other things. Slice it up in about quarter inch thick slivers so this doesn’t take forever to prep. Oh, if you wan to keep the peel on, that’s okay, too. This one was a bit knobby so off it went.
1 pound more or less of ground beef (or lamb, or bison). This one was a little less.
1/2 or so of a small onion (1/4 or so of a large one), diced to whatever level suits you. It doesn’t have to be fine.
1 egg
1.5 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Rosemary leaves, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Pre-heat oven to 450 F, and chop up your sweet potato to the approximately 1/4 or so inch slivers. Put them in foil, mix in the oil and rosemary, and wrap them up in that foil. Bake them for about 30 minutes.
Towards the end of that time, mix up everything else by hand. Break up and add the sweet potatoes (you can mash them to smooth or chunky), mix further, and reduce oven temp to 350 F. Use about 200 grams of the sweet potatoes. Your best bet is to use one of those mini-loaf pans and coat lightly with oil.
Do not cover. Cook at 350 F in the oven for one hour. Serve with lettuce, or other green veggies, raw or steamed.
It does not hold together quite as well as a wheat-based meatloaf, but it tastes better in my opinion. It doesn’t taste exactly like meatloaf, but close enough, and nutritious to boot.
Makes three servings.
Optionally, you can top this with the stereotypic ketchup before baking it, or better yet, a thick homemade tomato sauce with garden herbs. I didn’t, this go-round.
