Meatloaf appears to be a uniquely American food. In all my travels abroad I’ve never seen it on a restaurant menu or seen it served in Bed and Breakfast establishments anywhere. I’m going to share two meatloaf recipes with you today. This delicious meatloaf uses eggplant as a filler/binding agent; the other recipe I’ll be sharing later does not. This one is moist, flavorful and goes well with most vegetable sides. It is equally good made with zucchini, but I tend to use eggplant more often. This recipe suitable for all phases of Atkins (those on Induction need to use the flax meal or a one-minute-muffin for the bread), Keto diets, Paleo and Primal followers as well.
INGREDIENTS:
2 T. olive oil
1 ½ c. diced, cooked eggplant, mashed (or grated zucchini)
5 oz. chopped onion
1 large or 2 small cloves minced garlic
¼ c. chopped parsley
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
¼ c. grated mozzarella cheese
¼ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. coarse black pepper
1/8 tsp. oregano, optional
1 egg, beaten
1 low carb bun or one-minute-muffin, soaked in water & squeezed out
1 T. flax meal (or an additional egg)
1¼ lb. ground beef (or 3/4 lb. beef + 1/2 lb. ground pork)
OPTIONAL: Drizzle a 6 oz. can of tomato sauce on top added at the 30 min. cooking mark.
VARIATION: Add 2 oz. chopped bell pepper, your color choice, to the skillet with the onion. Adds a nice flavor layer to the final meatloaf.
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Sauté onion (and bell pepper, if using) in olive oil in skillet on high heat until tender. Add grated zucchini and continue to sauté until zucchini begins to get soft. Add minced garlic cooking 1 minute. Turn off heat. Place ground meat in large bowl. Put sautéed veggies into bowl next. Add cheeses, seasonings and beaten egg. Moisten flax bun with a bit of water and mush it up on top of the mixture. Mix all ingredients well either with a fork or clean hands until it is well-blended. Tip meat out into a loaf pan or onto baking pan and shape into an even oblong loaf. Bake at 350º about 1 ½ hours total or until meat thermometer reads 170º in the center. Should be firm when touched if done properly. If desired, at the 30 minute mark of cooking, top with a small can of tomato sauce or slices of tomato. If you do so, add to those numbers in below, as this is not included below. Not everyone likes a tomato sauce atop their meatloaf (using just pan juices for a ‘gravy’).
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 5, each serving contains (meatloaf only, no tomato topping): 519 calories 35.4 g fat 6.28 g carbs, 1.86 g fiber, 4.42g NET CARBS (around 5.42 g if tomato topping used) 42.8 g protein 116 mg. sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 