Last night I found yet another use for zucchini and I can honestly say that my garden is now nearly devoid of the prodigious emerald green offspring of the dog days. As a result of cooler days I think my quest to find 1001 uses for zucchini may soon end but I can add one more recipe for your epicurean delight.
Yesterday, I thawed some grass fed beef from Pasture’s A Plenty and looked in my latest fascinating cookbook by Elana Amsterdam “The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook”. She had on offer a recipe for Turkey loaf because, of course, in some minds beef is equated with the word “BAD”. I know grass fed beef is as healthy as any protein and probably better than factory raised turkey, so I thawed it with abandon. (I will let you in on a secret: despite being very well informed on the subject of grass fed beef every time I read an author’s denigrating words about beef I feel like a kid running with scissors when I eat it.) I guess if you believe turkey is better for you add 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil, if like me grass fed beef is what you prefer skip the oil. I have altered the recipe to suit my needs.
Herbed Meat Loaf
1 pound ground grass fed beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup grated zucchini
2 large eggs
1/4 cup ketchup (Annie’sorganic)
1/2 cup blanched almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill is good)
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh garden parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh garden thyme
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients and prepare to dig in. I just love mixing meatloaf with my clean hands, so I blended all the ingredients ala Jamie Oliver, shaped it in to a loaf and put it in a glass bread pan patting it out to make it even. I baked it about an hour or until the juices were running clear, removed it from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing and eating.
My husband (the spousal unit, sometimes referred to as “the SU”) actually asked me what we were eating at supper. When I told him meatloaf, I, expecting some snide remark about “mystery meat” was pleasantly surprised when he simply replied “it’s really tasty!” That made my entire evening seem brighter.
