Like many of you, I’ve worn several hats in my career. One such hat was that I was a Nanny for 17 years for 4 different families. In all of the families I worked for the Mother had just had a baby and had other young children. As with most post-delivery Mothers, they wanted their “old Body” back as quickly as possible. They also wanted their family to have nutritious healthy meals. I was tasked with making these meals and also getting the younger children to eat more vegetables. (sometimes the husband too)
I decided to not only make Low-fat meals but find some recipes that included veggies that were not as easily discernable to those picky eaters. I always added veggies as a side dish, but those often went uneaten by the picky ones. So I worked to find recipes where I could disguise said veggies. I found an awesome cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld called ” Deceptively Delicious”. It was chock-full of yummy recipes where the veggies weren’t visible. One of my favorites and the Families’ favorites was Italian Turkey Meatloaf with Cauliflower mashed potatoes. This recipe takes about 15 minutes to prepare and a total of 80-85 minutes from kitchen to dining table. Serves 8 and is packable.
The ingredients for Italian Turkey Meatloaf are as follows:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup Italian-style (seasoned) bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup non-fat (skim) milk
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup carrot puree (I used a food processor to puree the carrots)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup bottled tomato sauce
- 4 slices of turkey bacon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, soak breadcrumbs in milk
Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot add the oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 7-10 minutes. Add the celery and cook 3-4 minutes longer. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the turkey, Parmesan, carrot puree, ketchup, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.
Turn the mixture into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Spread tomato sauce over the meatloaf and lay strips of bacon on top. Bake until the center of the meatloaf is no longer pink and the bacon begins to brown for 45-50 minutes. Cut into slices and serve.
Edits I made; For the topping, I added 1/2 cup bottled barbeque sauce and 1/2 cup ketchup instead of the tomato sauce. I like the way it has a nice tangy flavor with the bacon.
If you’d like to try a healthy and sneaky side dish and dessert check out these recipes. Cauliflower “Mac” n Cheese and Deceptive Brownies.
The meatloaf was enjoyed and no one was the wiser that there were that many vegetables in it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Response Magic