Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

A few weeks ago, I received a recipe recommendation from Kate, a friend of Kimberly’s and reader of TAA. She is so unbelievably sweet, has a crush on her KitchenAid (just like me!), and is so kind enough to take the time to recommend recipes to me when she and her fiance are over the moon about something. I have these bookmarked along with my never-ending ‘To Make’ list, and earlier this week I finally got around to trying a meatloaf recipe that she sent my way.

 

Here's her note:

“I had to write you about two recipes we made last night and tonight. The second was [Tyler Florence’s] meatloaf recipe. I've actually never had meatloaf in my life, but something was luring me (hearty, warm, fall deliciousness). It was so unbelievably good! The tomato relish made it. You guys should try them out! We been on a fall cooking rampage in Boston-there's just something so comforting about the cold weather and cooking. I'm loving it!”

Um...sign me up!

Shaun and I looooove meatloaf. It’s so comforting, so easy and makes a giant batch so we always have leftovers for lunch the next day or dinner the next evening. Now that the cool weather has arrived in full effect, I knew it was the perfect time to try out this recipe, and Kate, I am so on board with this amazing meatloaf that I am already scheduling it into my dinner repetoire for round 2. I made a few adaptations to fit our personal food habits (like substituting turkey for pork since Shaun doesn’t eat it) and what I had on hand (like substituting bread crumbs for white bread). It was moist (thanks bacon!) and super flavorful. Oh and I should also mention that our entire apartment smelled like homecooked wonderfulness...my stomach is rumbling just thinking about it!

The tomato relish is really the star of this dish. It adds a little more work to the preparation, but I beg you...try this today and do not - under any circumstances - skip out on the relish! Shaun and I actually made this together...he started the relish before I arrived home from work, then I made the meatloaf. Teamwork rules!

Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf with Tomato Relish
*Adapted from Tyler Florence
for the tomato relish:
olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1-2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tsp dried parsley
12 oz ketchup (we used Heinz’s Reduced Sugar)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt
black pepper

for the bacon-wrapped meatloaf:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb lean ground turkey breast
¾ C seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ C skim or 1% milk
2 eggs
1 tsp fresh thyme
kosher salt
6 slices turkey bacon
cooking spray
1 recipe Tomato Relish, above

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the relish:
Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaves and saute. Add red peppers and cook to soften. Add tomatoes, parsley, ketchup, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes and remove from heat.

To make the meatloaf:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ground turkey, eggs, breadcrumbs, milk, thyme and salt. Use your hands to really get in there! Add 1 ½ C of the cooked tomato relish. Let sit until it is cool enough to handle before once again using your hands to mix. Once completely combined, shape into a large loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Pour ½ C of the relish on top of the meatloaf and spread across top and sides with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula. Lay strips of bacon horizontally over top of the meatloaf. I used about 6 slices, but add more to cover the length of the loaf. Bake for about 1 hour. Let cool slightly and serve. If you have any relish leftover, serve with meatloaf.

Note: we did not have any relish left for dressing at the end. The original recipe says it makes 4 cups of relish, but ours only came to about 2 cups, which was a perfect amount. No extra relish topping required!

Note 2: Somehow, I forgot to buy tomatoes so we actually made this without the tomatoes. I found it worked completely deliciously even without them!

Shaun and I really loved this dish. The red peppers in the relish added so much flavor. Using lean ground meat kept this healthy. And the turkey bacon on top was really just ..er, icing on the cake, if you will. It's easy enough for a weekenight dinner, but delicious enough as an unexpected dish for an intimate, cool weather dinner party. I can't wait to make this again and again!

Question of the Day:

What is your go-to comfort food in the cool weather?

Butternut Squash Macaroni + Cheese

A few months ago, my good friend Kristen helped me put together a recipe binder of all my magazine-tear outs. She's so creative and organized like that and now I'm organized too :) While we went through my pages of Food Network Mag and Real Simple recipes, she proclaimed her love for Cooking Light.

Since she was so over the moon about it, I decided that I too had to get on the bandwagon. Luckily, that cute husband of mine gave me a subscription for my birthday. He’s a keeper.

 

The second issue I received featured a macaroni & cheese that is lightened up by using butternut squash instead of flour for making a thickening agent (a roux). It's so genius because a) it works, b) it's a sneaky way to add some veggies, and c) the results are healthy and delicious.

I love this dish because it’s simple, comforting and relatively guilt-free. I’m not going to lie to you and say it’s as good as a full fat macaroni and cheese (for that, check out my gruyere mac & cheese and my asiago fig mac & cheese). It’s just not. But this recipe is perfect for a lightened up weeknight dinner and makes a large tray to boot. It’s a great way to enjoy a classic without breaking the caloric bank! I made a few changes from the original recipe to suit our needs and what we had on hand, but the result was still fantastico. So thanks to Kristen for giving me magazine envy.

Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese
*Adapted from Cooking Light
1 lb. elbow pasta (I used Barilla Plus), cooked according to package directions, boiled 1 less minute
1 medium butternut squash, diced
1 ½ C fat free milk
1 ¼ C low sodium chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp fat free Greek yogurt (I used Fage 0%)
1 ¼ C extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ C + 1 tbsp parmigiano reggiano, grated, divided
½ C panko bread crumbs (I used the seasoned kind)
kosher salt
black pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth, milk, butternut squash and garlic to a light boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes until the squash is fork tender and your kitchen smells like a bit of braised heaven :) I should note that I took this time to make the pasta and grate my cheese. Please note that I boiled the pasta to al dente because it is still going to cook in the oven - I didn’t want to overcook it!

Once soft, blend the squash mixture and the Greek yogurt together. You can use a blender, but I used my handy immersion blender (carefully) in the saucepan. Seriously, if you don’t have one...get one! It’s one of the best tools I’ve ever purchased and use it all the time. I think mine was $25 at Bed Bath & Beyond with a coupon. It’s perfect for all smoothies, soups and rogue uses like this.

Once completely blended, whisk in the cheddar and ½ C parmigiano reggiano until melted. In a large bowl, mix together the elbows and the cheese mixture. Pour into a large casserole dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Smooth the top and sprinkle the panko and remaining parmigiano reggiano over the top. Spritz lightly with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately. We also found that it reheated fabulously in the microwave (so as not to dry it out in the oven on day 2+).

So there you go. My new favorite recipe that will now be added to the permanent collection! I bet this would be great with lots of different cheeses too! In fact, the original recipe calls for gruyere, but I chose to stick with cheddar since I didn't want to buy a $9 block of cheese unless it was being eaten au naturale.

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever lightened up your favorite comfort food dish? I love doing this! In general, I try to sub less butter, ground turkey and add veggies wherever I can!

What are your plan for this weekend? Shaun and I are heading down to Delaware - let's hope the weather stays nice! Then it's football Sunday! Stay tuned for Game Day Eats ideas next week!

psst...we're rounding up our highs (peaches) and lows (pits) of the week over on The Peach & The Pit...what's your best and worst of the week?

Zucchini Fritters

Please note that a batch of my Butterscotch Blondies + Salted Chocolate Glaze are now up for auction over on Keep it Sweet! Please check out all of the delectable goodies that Lauren has up for auction - it's for a great cause!!

Last night I spent some time with this guy:

click for source

If you have Verizon FiOS, you can get Breaking Bad season 3 on demand - a triple hoorah! I was just about to buy the DVD in order to catch up before season 4 starts in July. I'm sooooo happy that I can save my $19.99 and simply watch it on TV.

Aside from that, I'm pretty excited because tonight is Zumba, and that workout just always makes me happy. Are any of you taking classes? I think it's the best workout around. I sweat like a beast but actually enjoy it. It's a win-win ;)

As I mentioned in yesterday's post...I adore all things summer. This may surprise you, but one of my favorite summer things is the food. Surprised? I adore fruits like strawberries, cherries and pineapple, while I just can't get enough of corn and, one of the most versatile veggies around, zucchini. In trying to come up with some zucchini recipes, my mind went instantly to fritters. Yum.

Zucchini Fritters
Serves 3-4
2 zucchini, grated w/skin still on
1 2/3 C+ panko bread crumbs
1/4 C parmesean cheese
2 egg whites
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil

Grate the zucchini. I used the grater attachment on my food processor, but you can also just use a box grater and get 'er done the old fashioned way.

With paper towels, squeeze out as much moisture as possible from othe zucchini. It's going to be a wet one, but it won't hold up in cooking if it's too moist.

In a mixing bowl, combine the zucchini, egg whites, panko, parmesean cheese and salt and pepper to season. If the mixture looks too moist to mold into patties, then add more panko.

Using 1/3 C, scoop out the batter and form into patties.

In a non-stick skillet (I used 2 of them), heat just a bit of oil. Once very warm, add the fritters and cook, just a few minutes on each since until golden and cooked through.

I think these are perfect just as they are (cheesy-song style), but I think they'd also be fantastic with a little marinara sauce or tzatziki sauce for dipping or with a bit more parmesean sprinkled on top.

 

So there you go. One of my favorite new summer dishes! I hope you enjoy this one! And if you have any ideas on how to bake them without falling apart, please share with me :) What is your favorite zucchini recipe? What's your favorite summer vegetable?