Mmmmm Meatloaf!

Last night's dinner was turkey quinoa meatloaf with sweet potato fries on the side. I took a photo of the finished product but let's be honest, meatloaf never LOOKS good, so I'm opting not to post it. It tasted amazing though. I'll post the recipe below but want to mention that I think next time I will likely double the amount of quinoa to half a cup (cooked in 1 cup water) and probably just use ketchup instead of tomato paste since it only calls for one tablespoon of it. This meatloaf has a little spice to it so I recommend scaling back the hot sauce if you can't handle heat (i.e. if you think ketchup is spicy). It gives it a great flavor though. Recipe is via Drew at the All Recipes website.

Recipe yields 5 servings. Prep time is about 20 minutes and cook time is about 50 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped
• 1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon water

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.
4. Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. The mixture will be very moist. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet. Combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

For my sweet potato fries I just dipped them in olive oil with sage, rosemary, thyme and salt mixed in. I baked them for the last 30 minutes that the meatloaf cooked for. They turned out better than my previous attempt without olive oil.

Enjoy!