Two nights in a row are brought to you by Zaar Tag. Last night I made a Salsa Meatloaf recipe to review. I was excited about this one and couldn't wait to try it.
When I finally began to put together the recipe, I realized there was a very high meat to vegetable ratio. In the end, there ended up being more filler in the meatloaf than actual meatloaf. I feel a meatloaf should be very simple comfort food, and this wasn't. I think that grating the onion, carrots, and zucchini would have been easier if I had a food processor I could put them through. As it was, I decided not to grate the onions to save my eyes. I used frozen zucchini, so I used the chopper attachment on my new immersion blender, which ended up more pureeing the food, but it worked out fine. At this point, I was becoming very worried about how much we would be able to taste the meat. After all, there was definitely more filler than meat at this point.
I decided to keep going. The meat mixture was very loose and watery, but I knew that some of that would come out of it while cooking. I was surprised the recipe did not call for any salsa in the meatloaf, it was just poured on top halfway through cooking.
I wanted to try to make my own version of mashed potatoes and thought this would be a good time to try. Since I was making a salsa meatloaf, I decided to add some spice to the mashed potatoes. I didn't have any fresh peppers, so I added some hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and chipotle powder. I then sprinkled it with freshly grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese.
The verdict: the meatloaf was ok, and my attempt at making my own Mexican Mashed Potatoes turned out pretty well (I liked it and I asked my boyfriend to be brutally honest since I was going to post it if it turned out well). We both wanted to taste more of the meat and to have some of the salsa within the meat itself.
I'm posting the recipe as I would make it in the future with a link to the original.
Salsa Meatloaf
2 egg whites or ¼ cup egg white substitute
¼ cup oatmeal
¼ onion, grated or minced
¼ cup zucchini, grated
¼ cup carrots, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1lb. ground beef
¾ cup salsa
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a bowl, lightly whisk egg whites. Add oatmeal, onion, zucchini, carrots, garlic, Worcestershire Sauce, salt, thyme, ¼ cup salsa, and pepper. Mix well.
- Add ground beef and mix with clean hands until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Line a roasting pan or baking pan with sides with aluminum foil. Put meat mixture in the pan and shape into a loaf. Cook for about 40 minutes. Pour rest of salsa evenly over meat and cook for about 20 more minutes or until meat reads 170°F with a meat thermometer.
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