Recipe Mondays - Moshe's Hidden Vegetable Meatloaf

RECIPE MONDAY - HIDDEN VEGGIE MEATLOAF

Welcome to Recipe Mondays, a sort of, "Well, what are we going to eat this week" approach to helping you plan your family's menus. I asked Moshe to whip something up for this week and I hope you will enjoy it. Please check back each Monday for a new recipe.

Smokey Joe’s is a magnet for meat eaters , as you can ask our Brooklyn contingent, regularly packing up their buddies to challenge the  George Washington Bridge and finally escaping onto Route 4 and arriving at SJ’s breathless and ready to tear into prearranged slow smoked racks of ribs.

But there is more to life than brisket and sausage, and yes there is even more than ribs.

Yesterday we were joined for lunch by a vegetarian celebrating her birthday who wanted her family to share a meal at her favorite restaurant in Teaneck.She had a Barbeque Tofu Salad, her mother had sizzling Seitan Fajitas, and her father had a shredded Brisket Sandwich with Sweet Potato wedges.
Now, not everyone is willing to pass up a favorite meaty masterpiece for vegetables right in the middle of the plate, but it did remind me that my family loves my “Hidden Vegetable Meatloaf”.
My family has varied tastes when it comes to dinnertime, one likes pastas and eggs and cheeses, and my son at TABC is a meat and potatoes guy and, its ok if there aren’t any potatoes.

This tasty Meatloaf is full of vegetables, but more importantly is full of flavor.

If you want to make it you start like this:

Coarsely chop one large onion, 2 carrots,2 ribs of celery, one large green or red pepper(hey , you can add both if you want) and a really large handful of fresh spinach (baby spinach works great). Next, either saute or microwave in a bag until soft. Allow to cool slightly and chop finely (isn’t this easier after its cooked and soft?).
Take 3 lbs of ground beef, add 3 eggs, 3/4 cup breadcrumbs or matzah meal, and all those vegetables and 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite seasoning blend (I used Smokey Joe’s Secret Rub #88).
If you have an open jar of salsa, you can put in ½ a cup and if not add some ketchup.
Mix this together well and divide into 4 portions. Form each portion into a football shaped loaf and put on a sprayed baking sheet (this gives lots of surfaces to get brown and crusty).
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, remove from oven, and at this point I usually transfer the meatloaves to a clean pan and leave any rendered fat and grease behind so it doesn’t wind up on your dinner plate.
Generously brush the meatloaves with your favorite BBQ sauce (Guess which one I use?) Return to oven, lower temperature to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes and your meat and veggies are done. You can serve this with mashed potatoes, but my son says that potatoes are optional.

Serves 6-8 0r 4 TABC students