Bean and Beef Meatloaf with Chili Sauce and Corn Milk-Cilantro Sauce

Here, I take chili beans - a traditional American comfort food - and morph them into a spicy, sweet, and hearty meatloaf - yet another traditional American comfort food. The loaf start sweet, but the sparing use of cayenne and jalapeno in the sauce give the loaf a little burn that lasts after you've eaten your last bite. It makes you feel warm all over your body; great for a chilly or rainy day.


The thin sauce on the left is the corn milk-cilantro sauce. You can't tell because of the terrible photo quality, but the corn milk sauce is sunny yellow with flecks of green. The thicker, deep red sauce on the right is the chili sauce. The corn milk sauce is sweet, mild, and subtle, while the chili sauce is big and bold. Try not to mix them together too much, because the chili sauce will overpower the corn milk sauce. I've garnished the plate with three beautiful avocado spears, which pair wonderfully with the loaf and the sauces.

Please note: This loaf tastes wonderful without sauce. It's fall-apart moist and very flavorful on its own. I love the complexity of flavor that sauces impart, but if you're in a hurry or if you just don't like making sauces, feel free to omit them!

Ingredients for Bean and Beef Loaf
1.5 lbs. lean ground beef - I used 96/4, but 93/7 will work just fine
225 grams of finely diced red onion (about 1 large or 1.5 medium onions)
44 grams of chopped fresh parsley (about 1 small bunch or 3/4 cup)
132 grams of finely diced red bell pepper with seeds and ribs removed (about 1 large pepper)
1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and preferably organic
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, reduced sodium if available
1/4 cup Liquid Smoke
1 can diced no salt added tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1.5 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. ground sage
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup egg substitute (I used Publix EggStirs)

Ingredients for Corn Milk-Cilantro Sauce
1 can of corn kernels
1 bunch of cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for Chili Sauce
1/2 can no salt added diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Nature Sweet Brown sugar replacement (made of maltitol, a sugar alcohol)
3 poblano chilis, roughly chopped with seeds and ribs removed
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. instant coffee (I used decaf)
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/2 cup roughly diced onion
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped with seeds and ribs removed

Directions for Loaf
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all of the loaf ingredients, in no particular order. Shape the mixture by pressing it into a large loaf pan. Bake the loaf for about 1 hour or until the loaf is nicely browned on the outside. Serve with both sauces.

Makes 17 servings.

Directions for Corn Milk-Cilantro Sauce
Puree the corn in your food processor to turn it into a corn pulp. Strain the corn pulp through a fine sieve until you're left with just the juice, or milk, from the corn. Bring the corn milk to a boil in a saucepot and reduce it about 1/3 to 1/2, or until the watery consistency becomes more of a milky consistency. It will still be a very liquid, thin sauce, but you are just aiming to make it less thin. After the corn milk has reduced, remove it from the heat. Add salt (about 1/2 tsp. should work) and a sprinkle or two of black pepper. Add finely chopped cilantro. Serve.

Directions for Chili Sauce
Combine all of the ingredients into a saucepot and bring to a simmer. Reduce the sauce about 1/3, until the sauce becomes more opaque. You can serve the sauce with the chunks (in which case you might want to finely dice all of the ingredients), or you can put all of the chunks into your food processor to create a puree. Add the puree back into the saucepot, mix it back into the liquid, simmer for 3-5 more minutes, and remove from the heat to serve.

Nutritional Information
Loaf: With 96/4 extra lean ground beef, the loaf is 93 calories, 10.8 grams of protein, and 6 grams of net carbs. With 93/7 lean ground beef, the loaf is 107 calories, 10.5g grams of protein, and 6 grams of net carbs.

Corn Milk-Cilantro Sauce: This is a rough estimate because it's hard to get a calorie count on just the corn juice, but my educated guess is that 1/17 of the recipe is 5 calories, 0 grams of protein, and 0.5 grams of net carbs.

Chili Sauce: 1/17 of the recipe is 15.4 calories, 0.5 grams of protein, and 2g net carbs.

Pairing
As noted above, I paired my loaf with a few slices of fresh avocado, and if I had citrus I would have squeezed a lime on top of the loaf. You could also serve this with guacamole, and sour cream or a little nonfat Fage Greek yogurt would be great to cool your palate from the slight heat. An additional cooling agent that would add lots of flavor is grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, or you could even use a little queso fresco. You might also top this with a little chopped raw scallion, but make sure not to overdo it because there are plenty of onions in the loaf and sauce already.

For sides, you might try a nice crisp cole slaw, or soul food-style mustard greens or collard greens. You could even do a light Romaine or even iceberg salad dressed with lime or lemon juice, just for the contrast between the warmth and spiciness of the loaf and the cool crispness of the salad.

Apple-Cranberry Turkey Loaf with Pumpkin-Maple-Orange Sauce

I love the colors and flavors of fall. Few meatloaves better capture this season than my Apple-Cranberry Turkey Loaf with Pumpkin-Maple-Orange Sauce. The colors of this meatloaf pop against the whiteness of the ground turkey breast. You will enjoy the vibrant orange pumpkin sauce, the emerald green of the chopped parsley, and the violet-red of the fresh cranberries.*

The loaf is delicious too. The sauce and loaf taste wonderful separately, but it's really the combination of the two--the balance of the tartness of the apples and cranberries with the gentle sweetness of the sauce--that makes this dish sing.

This loaf is super-easy to prepare and cooks relatively quickly. The most time-consuming aspect is the prep work (dicing the apples, chopping the onions, slicing the cranberries), which you can lessen by purchasing pre-chopped ingredients or by using a food processor or chopper contraption. This recipe is great for an autumn weeknight!

Ingredients for Apple-Cranberry Turkey Loaf
1 lb. ground turkey breast
300 grams granny smith apples, peeled and diced small, but not finely (about 2.5 apples)
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
82 grams fresh cranberries, sliced
About 1/4 cup chopped parsley
62 grams finely diced yellow onion
1.5 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Egg Beaters

Ingredients for Pumpkin-Maple-Orange Sauce
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar-free maple syrup
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp. orange zest
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all loaf ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly, preferably with your hands, but avoid squeezing the mixture. Use your hands like paddles.

Mold the mixture into a loaf shape in a pan that has been coated with nonstick spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes.

While the loaf is baking, combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a hearty simmer, then remove it from the heat. (Doing this will remove any "raw" flavor from the pumpkin and will help blend the flavors of the ingredients.)

After the first 20 minutes of baking, remove the loaf from the oven. Use about 1/3 to 1/2 of the sauce to lightly coat the entire loaf, and then return it to the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Remove the loaf from the oven, and serve with the remainder of the delicious sauce.

Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional Information
Each serving contains about 84 calories, 10.5 grams of protein, and 6.7 net grams of carbohydrate.

Pairing
Garnish with whole cranberries, fresh sage, and perhaps orange rind or slices. Serve with a cinnamon swirl milkshake or have a cinnamon, pumpkin, or gingerbread protein drink for dessert: With this loaf, no side dishes are needed. All of the necessary flavor and textural components are already there, as the apples will retain their crunch if you don't dice them too finely.

*You will enjoy said colors, not through my grainy photo, but rather when you prepare this yourself! Sorry about the picture quality.

Classic Tuna and Pea Loaf with Cheddar Sauce

Remember tuna casserole? It's an American family staple (certainly was in my family), and it singlehandedly refutes the idea that fish and cheese cannot work well together. Tuna casserole is easy to make, requiring only, in its simplest form, canned tuna, canned cream of mushroom soup, peas, cheddar cheese, egg noodles, and breadcrumbs or potato chips for a crunchy top. I turn this classic comfort food into an equally easy-to-prepare and comforting meatloaf--without the bread or potatoes, of course!

This loaf is creamier than average, mostly because of the cream of mushroom soup (which, as you may have learned from Chef Luis Gonzalez on Season 1 of Food Network's "Chopped," is only used by people who "can't cook." Ted Allen seems to agree.) Also, though largely based on the classic dish, this loaf has a slightly elevated flavor profile due to the use of citrus and vinegar in the sauce and fresh parsley in the loaf itself. For textural interest, top with chopped raw onion, serve with crisp lettuce, or sprinkle with crushed Revival Soy baked protein chips or Kay's Naturals protein chips or pretzels.

Ingredients for Classic Tuna and Pea Loaf
3 12-oz. cans of chunk light tuna in water, drained
16 oz. (2 packs) fresh white or baby portabella mushrooms
1/2 cup diced onions
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1 and 1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 16-oz. bag of frozen green peas [Note: Do not defrost]
5-6 roughly chopped garlic cloves
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. celery seeds
About 1/2 can 96% fat-free condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup egg substitute (I use Publix EggStirs)

Ingredients for Cheddar Sauce
Mushroom "drippings" from the sauteed mushrooms for the loaf
1 can 96% fat-free condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup vegetable, seafood, or chicken broth
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 7-oz. bag shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

Directions
Chop the mushrooms into small chunks and saute in nonstick spray with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper on medium heat until the mushrooms release most of their liquid. Drain the mushoom "drippings" into a small saucepan for making the cheddar sauce; put the sauteed mushrooms into a large bowl.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Add all of the remaining loaf ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Do not worry about overmixing: Since the tuna is already cooked, the loaf doesn't need to set up the same way that a loaf made of raw meat would.

Pack the tuna-pea mixture into a large loaf pan. [Note: I usually shape my loaves free-hand and cook them on a flat surface like a cookie sheet or larger casserole dish. But with this loaf, you really need to pack it into a pan, as it will not hold together otherwise.]

Bake the loaf in a 375-degree oven until it is brown and crispy across most of the top, but still creamy underneath. This could take up to an hour. (If you make a flatter loaf, it will take less time but will be less creamy in the end.)

Shortly before removing the loaf from the oven, build the Cheddar Sauce. Combine all of the ingredients except the cheese in the small saucepan containing the mushroom drippings. Bring the mixture to a simmer.

Begin adding the cheddar cheese in small handfuls until the cheese is completely melted into the sauce. The consistency should remind you of cheese fondue, not too gummy.

Serve each slice of the meatloaf with a dollop of the Cheddar Sauce. Note that, unlike many meatloaf toppings, this sauce never cooks in the oven with the loaf.

Makes 20 2.5-oz servings. Consider cutting the recipe in half if you don't have many people or large appetites to serve.

Nutritional Information
1 2.5-oz slice of Classic Tuna and Pea Loaf, including a serving of Cheddar Sauce, contains 101 calories, 14.6 grams of protein, and 6.3 grams of net carbohydrates.

Pairing
Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top of each slice of this loaf; it beautifully brightens the dish. If desired, sprinkle each serving with fresh chive or parsley, which have complementary colors and flavors. This loaf can stand alone, but you could serve with a nice, light salad or soy chips/pretzels. Because the loaf itself is creamy, you will want a reasonably crisp vegetable side. If you're a carby sort of person, you could serve this alongside pasta.

Meatloaf Caprese with Balsamic Reduction

Insalata Caprese is a simple and beautiful food--juicy tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and flavorful basil leaves with perhaps a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness of the tomatoes and to cut through the creaminess of the cheese. This is my attempt to inject the spirit and flavor of that classic Italian dish into a beef meatloaf.

You probably can't tell from this grainy photograph,* but the meatloaf is stuffed with creamy fat-free mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato, aromatic basil, and topped with a rich, acidic balsamic glaze.

A great Caprese salad must include fresh mozzarella. The philosophy is that the quality and freshness of the ingredients stand on their own; you don't need a bunch of additives that will hide their natural flavor. My meatloaf recipe, however, calls for fat-free pre-shredded mozzarella. Perhaps using this sort of "mozzarella" seems blasphemous to most foodies, but hey - (1) all of the recipes on this blog will be low-calorie, low-carb, low-fat, and high protein. Full-fat mozzarella fails to meet two of those criteria. More importantly, (2) meatloaf is probably not the most sensible vehicle for high-quality mozzarella. Save the good stuff for a traditional Caprese salad.**

Ingredients for Meatloaf Caprese
1 lb. 96/4 lean ground beef - I use Laura's Lean ground round (93/7 works also)
1/2 cup fat-free shredded mozzarella (I use Kraft Natural)
1.5 tbsp. minced garlic
5 tbsp. grated white or yellow onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
2 tbsp. beef broth
1/4 cup egg substitute (I use Publix EggStirs)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh basil chiffonade

Ingredients for stuffing
4 oz. thinly sliced tomatoes
1/2 cup fat-free shredded mozzarella
5-6 fresh basil leaves
Additional salt and pepper

Ingredients for Balsamic Reduction
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
4 oz. roughly chopped leftover tomatoes
2 tbsp. roughly chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup beef broth
1 tsp. salt

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the loaf: the ground beef, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella, the chiffonade of basil, garlic, onion, thyme, oregano, black pepper, salt, beef broth, and egg substitute. Mix until combined, but don't overdo it.

Place about 1/3 of the beef mixture on the bottom of a pan that you've hit with some nonstick spray. Make sure the top of the mixture is slightly concave to hold the stuffing.

To stuff the loaf, layer 2 oz. of the sliced tomato, 1/4 cup of the fat-free mozzarella, and 2-3 of the basil leaves.

Place another 1/3 of the beef mixture atop the first layer of stuffing. Again, make the loaf slightly concave on top, then repeat the filling instructions.

Top the meatloaf with the final layer of beef mixture, and make sure the loaf is well-sealed. None of the stuffing should be visible outside the loaf.

Initially, you will bake the meatloaf at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. While the meatloaf is baking, you will prepare the balsamic reduction.

To make the balsamic reduction, combine all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and reduce the mixture for about 15 minutes, or until it is about 1/2 of its original volume.

After the 25 minutes of initial baking have elapsed, remove the loaf from the oven, top it with the balsamic reduction, and return to the oven until it is done. This should take 10-15 minutes. Expect some of the cheese in the mixture to ooze out during baking; this is fine and makes the loaf look even juicier and more luscious. Make sure to keep the wayward cheese and serve it on top of the loaf slices.

Makes 10 2.5-oz. servings. The entire loaf should be about 10 inches long.

Nutritional Information
Each 2.5-oz slice made with 96/4 ground round contains approximately 110 calories, 14.5 grams of protein, and only 4.7 grams of net carbohydrate.

If prepared with the more readily available 93/7 lean ground beef, each slice is approximately 127 calories, 14.2 grams of protein, and 4.7 grams of net carbohydrates. (The greater fat content in 93/7 beef raises the calories, but leaves the protein and net carb numbers mostly the same.)

Pairing
Serve this loaf as simply as the salad that inspired it, perhaps alongside a crisp lettuce salad drizzled with an olive oil-based vinaigrette, or with lightly steamed or sauteed haricot verts seasoned only with salt, pepper, and maybe a little olive oil.

*I bought a new camera just to photograph my creations for this blog, and of course it takes terrible pictures. Oh well, what can you do? If you click on the Insalata Caprese link above, you'll see how a real food photo should look!

**If, for some reason, you insist on using fresh mozzarella for this dish, be sure to use a variety with a low-moisture content, similar to the kind you'd use on a pizza. Too much moisture from the cheese will make this lovely loaf a hot, gloppy mess.

Meatloaf Masala with Tomato Chutney

This loaf is colorful, beautiful, flavorful, and light. You can see the bits of chickpea and cauliflower running through it. This recipe is an easy but delicious solution for the home cook who wants to have fun with Indian/American fusion. Enjoy!

Admittedly, there is nothing authentic about this loaf. First, I use curry powder, which (as you may have learned from Chef Suvir Saran's appearance on The Next Iron Chef), a true Indian cook would not use. Second, it doesn't have the heat level of an authentic Indian dish; the heat is toned down for the mainstream American palate. Feel free to add green chili peppers to the tomato chutney if you'd like more heat. The chilis would probably be overpowering if added to the actual loaf.

Ingredients for Meatloaf Masala
1 pound ground chicken breast
2 cups cauliflower that has been boiled in well-salted water and diced into small bite-sized pieces
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup finely diced onions
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 tbsp. garam masala
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. dried fennel seeds (technically fennel fruits)
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used Publix EggStirs)

Ingredients for Tomato Chutney
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with no salt added
1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1 tbsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Splenda

Directions
Begin by preparing the tomato chutney. Dump all ingredients except the Splenda into a small saucepan and bring to a medium temperature. Allow the chutney to reduce until the broth is about 1/3 of its original volume, or until it goes from translucent to opaque. Finish by adding the Splenda. Allow the mixture to cool. [Tip: Double the chutney recipe if you want extra to sprinkle over the meatloaf slices for serving. The recipe as written makes just enough chutney to top the meatloaf during cooking.]

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the loaf ingredients in a large bowl. Place the mixture onto an oven safe plan and shape as you'd prefer; I like to shape mine into a long, thin log with a flat top so that the sauce doesn't fall off. Top with cooled tomato chutney. Bake the meatloaf at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until an oven themometer indicates that the chicken is at a safe temperature to eat.

Makes 14 3-oz. servings.

Nutritional Information
1 3-oz. slice of Meatloaf Masala with Tomato Chutney contains 75 calories, 9.5 grams of protein, and 5 grams of net carbs (that is, total carbs minus fiber and 1/2 of the sugar alcohol grams, where applicable.)

Pairing
Serve with okra, raita (especially if you added chilis to the sauce, for the cooling effect), and/or mango lassi made with mango puree, nonfat yogurt, and the artificial sweetener of your choice. If you eat starchy carbs, perhaps naan or Basmati rice would be appropriate as well.