Green Meatloaf

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do you have any fun plans for the day/evening? Due to my being away and my husband’s gazillion hours of work this weekend, our plans are still up in the air, but I am sure we will think of something!

Last night’s dinner, inspired by recent recipes on Alicia’s and Emily’s websites, looked a little more like something you would serve on St. Patrick’s Day, and with Valentine’s Day on its way out, green is where it is at.

I usually make meatloaf several times over the course of the winter; during the last Presidential primaries, meatloaf became a good luck charm when we ate it on the evening our candidate won several states. Following that, I made meatloaf on the evening of all big primaries.

I returned from visiting my family in NJ craving some comfort food as I was missing them and had a harrowing drive back that included a warning from a state trooper. I was also intensely craving greens, and thus green meatloaf was born.

The ingredients were few: 1/4 onion, chopped, three cups of spinach chopped, a container of ground turkey, one egg, a drop of ketchup, some ground pepper, and salt.

I started with my favorite kitchen tool, these salad shears from the Foodbuzz Festival swag bag. With these my spinach was chopped into tiny pieces in no time, ready to be quickly sautéed with the onion in a bit of oil.

I cooked the spinach down just a bit, then cooled it while I mixed the ground turkey with the egg, pepper, and salt. I then folded in the spinach.

When everything was well blended, I placed it in a loaf pan to cook at 375 until the meat was cooked through. I pondered using a muffin tin to make mini meatloafs, but I envisioned meatloaf sandwiches and went with the loaf pan instead.

About 20 minutes in to cooking, I drained off some liquid from the meatloaf to make sure it cooked up nice and brown. Then I started on the sauce.

Muir Glen was so incredibly generous last month, and I am still reaping the rewards of attending their dinner at Garden at the Cellar.

I added a can of the Muir Glen organic tomato sauce to the pan that the spinach was cooked in, then added a pinch of red pepper flakes and some garlic powder.

When the meatloaf was done, I cut it into slices, topped with tomato sauce, and served with my incredibly easy and delicious mashed potatoes.

Just a bunch of potatoes, boiled until soft, drained and mixed with Kerrygold and skim milk, mashed until creamy.

Does it get any more comforting than meatloaf and mashed potatoes?

I’ll be tucking this recipe away and making it again in the very near future, maybe as part of our St. Patrick’s Day feast. Speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, my birthday falls on the same day as the Boston parade this year, what should I do?!