Monday, January 17, 2011

Quinoa Chicken Meatloaf

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 10 comments » / chicken, quinoa, turkey

Recently I saw some fellow Nashville food blog friends (Leah of So How’s It Taste & Beth of Eat.Drink.Smile) discussing meatloaf.  I suggested they try the Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf, if they were looking for a variation on your standard meatloaf.  Of course that got meatloaf on my mind.  Even if this sounds dorky, I love meatloaf.  Besides the Buffalo Chicken version, I have a standard Turkey Meatloaf recipe I’ve made many times (hmm… perhaps I should consider updating the picture…).  Meatloaf is such great comfort food, especially in these cold winter months.  Whaddya know a little bit later in the day I was browsing Tastespotting and saw a Quinoa Turkey Meatloaf.  Lawd, if that doesn’t have “Erin make this” all over it, I don’t know what does.  As it were, I also caught a sale on ground chicken, so meatloaf it was!

I personally really liked this meatloaf, and The (soon-to-be my) Mr did too.  I gauge his opinion based on whether or not he went back for seconds, and if he ate leftovers the next day.  He did both.  Now, the consistency is a bit different than your standard meat loaf.  Of course cooked quinoa is quite a bit moister than breadcrumbs or ground oatmeal (which is what I usually put in meatloaf).  It seemed to hold together better than the Buffalo Chicken version did too.  The cumin & jalapeno definitely added some unique flavor.  I think there are many variations you could do with spices on a quinoa/poultry loaf.  I’m really glad I made this, as it was delicious, healthy, comfort food.  I haven’t figured out the nutritional info on this, but considering the ingredients I’m betting they’re really good!  High in protein!

*I’m adding this to both the Chicken & Turkey categories, because obviously you could use either one.

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Quinoa Chicken Meatloaf

adapted from The Perfect Pantry, originally from Nirmala's Edible Diary: A Hungry Traveler's Cookbook with Recipes from 14 Countries
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Canola spray
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1-1/2 cups cooked quinoa (1/2 cup quinoa cooked with 1 cup of water)*
1 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1 large egg
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a small frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño to the pan, and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft. Stir in the cumin, and cook for one minute. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the onion mixture and the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly, and transfer to the loaf pan. Bake for one hour. Turn the oven off, and let the meatloaf sit in it for 10 minutes. Then, remove from the oven, and let the meatloaf cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.