Not Your Mother's Turkey Meatloaf

Meatloaf is such a weird food. You mush all these ingredients together and bake meat into a loaf. And yet, the results are usually very tasty - and in American food culture meatloaf is wildly popular. It is considered to be comfort food. My comfort runs along other lines, such as very hot Thai and Mexican food, or sushi. But, to each her own!

Now disregard this somewhat lopsided intro to meatloaf and read on to my version of a turkey meatloaf that is a little different. I think the result will blow your taste buds out of their torpor!

The turkey, though quite yummy when roasted whole, has little to offer in the flavor department when it is ground up. Therefore, to optimize deliciousness, we need to ADD some flavor.

Generally, meatloaf will  have fillers, such as bread and egg, to help it stick together. For this loaf, we are using no such things. Ground turkey, when cooked, tends to cling to itself, which will give you a good loaf.
Lastly, spinach is a big part of this recipe. You can use frozen spinach right out of the bag. For some reason it works.

Ingredients

1-1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey (not just breast)
1 pound of frozen spinach (IF you do thaw it, squeeze some of the liquid out before using)
1 large onion
3 cloves of fresh garlic OR 1 tsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp whole grain mustard (or any mustard you  happen to have)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or soy if you don't have Worcestershire)
2 tsp Oregano - crushed in the palm of your hand
Lots of ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 380 F.

Choose a large bowl to mix your ingredients.

Chop the onion pretty fine. Peel and chop the garlic.Place the turkey meat into the bowl and add onion and garlic. Add mustard, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, lots of black pepper, and salt. Now squish it with your (clean) hands until it is fairly well incorporated.

Sprinkle the frozen spinach over the meat mass and squish some more. At this point your hands will get terribly cold, but don't despair. 

When the spinach is incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl and go wash your hands.

Very generously oil your pre-determined loaf pan - we're talking at least 3 tbsp of oil. Make sure the sides are oiled as well. There should be a puddle of oil in the bottom of the pan - don't be alarmed.

Now place the meat mass into the pan by piling it up along the center. Once all the meat is in the pan, and the oil is moving up the sides, you can smooth the top. I like to chunk the top up a bit with a fork. That creates nooks and crannies that brown deliciously.

Place the loaf pan into the 380 F oven for about 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 F and continue to cook for 45 minutes. A total of one  hour.

Your turkey meatloaf will be done if it has pulled away from the sides. There will be bubbling juice all around the perimeter and the top should be browned. Remove from the oven and allow the loaf to sit for about 15 minutes before cutting.

When you cut it while it is still hot, it can be slightly crumbly - delicious, nonetheless. Make sure to scoop up some of those juices!

You can cover and refrigerate the rest. Once cooled, the loaf slices well. It is incredibly good on sandwiches with tomato.

You can also make the same recipe into patties.

Follow the instructions until the hand washing part. With moist hands, form the meat mass into small patties - about 3" diameter. Heat a lot of olive oil in a pan over medium and carefully place the patties in the hot oil. Don't move them at all for about 8-10 minutes while they do their thing over medium heat. Then carefully turn and finish cooking on the other side. You'll get more browning, if course, than with the loaf.

These patties are fairly fragile while hot, but pull together when cold. Also delicious as a sandwich!

As always, I encourage you to get creative. This is a recipe I came up with and it works for me (and those to whom I've served  it).

Give it a try and let me know how it goes! This is a no-carb recipe, if that's how you roll.