As I designed my meals for the week, I made a conscious effort to devise ways to include more fiber in our diet. Not only is fiber the "stuff" that keeps our bowels regular, it's also responsible for helping our bodies process carbohydrates. So, for example, if a slice of bread has 9 carbohydrates and 5 grams of fiber, you can subtract the fiber from the carbs for your net carbohydrate intake. We all know that balance is the tricky and essential goal of eating healthfully, and this little mathematical trick is something I like to keep in the back of my mind.
That said, I decided to sneak some extra fiber into one of my favorite meals, made even more my favorite by the fact that it's my grandmother's piece de resistence: meatloaf. It's a super-simple recipe that allows the meat and the sauce to be the stars, and I doctored it up to increase the healthiness. Start with a pound (enough for three to four servings, depending on the size of your slices) of ground meat. In my gram's case, ground beef. In my case, ground turkey. I truthfully do not notice a difference, except, of course, that I know ground turkey is healthier, and I really prefer the flavor of turkey to that of beef. At any rate, the choice is yours.
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In a large bowl, plop down the meat. Add a small handful of diced onions, some garlic powder, black pepper, and a quarter cup of tomato sauce. My gram swears by Prego pasta sauce. Me? I'm frugal, so I use Hunt's. At $.89 for a can, you can not go wrong. It's looser than Prego, but that also means it stretches a little further, too. With your hands (c'mon! Roll up your sleeves!), squish it all together until the sauce and onions are distributed. Form it into the ubiquitous meatloaf shape (rectangular-ish with rounded corners), and place it on a baking rack in a casserole dish. Be sure to spray all the surfaces with cooking spray, because the fat and sauce tend to bake onto the dish's surface. Place casserole in a 400-degree oven for about 1.25 hours.
For my fiber-rich meatloaf, I added half a can of spinach to the meat mixture, which I first drained thoroughly in a strainer. You don't want to add the liquid from the spinach, so take a little time to squeeze all of it out. I also added a little tomato sauce to the top of the loaf before baking it; Gram adds, like, a whole jar of sauce, but since I don't want to reuse the sauce that contains fat drippings, I just opt for the top.
For sides, I again wanted to increase our fiber content. I boiled three Yukon gold potatoes (chopped them a bit first the speed up the cooking time) and mashed them with the other half of the spinach and a few tablespoons of margarine. I could've done with a bit more margarine, but for the sake of health-- and to preserve the great flavor of potato and spinach-- I used a light hand. The other side is simply quickly-boiled carrots and one small head of broccoli, drained, then heated with a tiny bit of margarine and tons of garlic salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
For what it's worth, I didn't peel the potatoes or the carrots. I like to think the peels add a bit more nutritional value, but they're a matter of preference. Some people hate peels and crave a nice, smooth mashed potato, and I think that's perfectly reasonable. Use a handmixer to get the job done if you're one of those types. As far as mix-ins are concerned, mashed potatoes can be delicious with just about any soft vegetable. I've boiled carrots and mashed them along with the potatoes, and I have regularly had boiled cabbage mixed in too. For some, this might be a good way to sneak in the veggies that people tend not to love (spinach, for example). And cooking is nothing if not an art, right? What's a little craftiness between friends with fork in hand?
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