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One of the greatest things about meatloaf is that it has evolved over the years. Just about anything goes, and it does not just have to be about red meat. Meat loaf can be made with ground lamb, ground turkey, ground buffalo, or ground chicken. You can even sneak all kinds of vegetables into this dish, from acorn squash to zucchini and unless they are watching the preparation, people who love meat will never know they are eating vegetables. It's a good trick to use on children as well!

From all these varieties, I have chosen to share two recipes that cater to Pesco Vegetarians. However, if you don't want to do without red meat, you can certainly use ground beef as well.

I. QUICKIE MEATLOAF: What makes this one different, is not only the obvious use of chicken instead of beef, but also using stuffing mix instead of breadcrumbs. I simply put the seasoned stuffing mix in the blender and grind it up.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chicken
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups herb flavored stuffing mix
3 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons hot salsa
2 tablespoons Ranch style salad dressing

Directions:

Preheat the oven 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, mix the ground chicken, eggs, ground stuffing mix, 3 tablespoons salsa, and salad dressing. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Top the meat loaf carefully with the 2 tablespoons salsa and finish baking for another 15 minutes.

I have found this recipe to be the quickest way to make meatloaf, because the stuffing mix is already seasoned. Topping it with the salsa at the end serves two functions: To give it extra flavor and to add texture because only ground beef gives meatloaf the crusty top many people like. Feel free to add seasonings, but in that case use mild salsa instead of hot.

II. CHIPOTLE MEATLOAF: This is a recipe born of necessity. Since I love using ground turkey in my recipes but it can be rather bland, I added chipotles to the mix to give it some kick and liked the result.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1/2 green bell pepper
2 stalks of celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large egg
a splash of milk
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 chipotles finely cut with 1 tablespoon adobe sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put the ground turkey into a large bowl. Put onion, celery, and green pepper into a food processor, set to finely chop. Add the vegetable pieces to the ground turkey and mix. Add egg, milk, bread crumbs, and chili powder to the mix. Finish with the chipotles and adobe and mix well. Put the mixture into a 8x4 inch loaf pan and bake for one hour. (If you prefer your meatloaf with a glaze on top, you can brush it with barbecue sauce before baking).

I came up with these two recipes a while back by watching cooking shows, browsing the Internet, and then adapting them to my taste by using what I had on hand at the time.

Learn more about this author, Alexandra Heep.
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