Chicken & Vegetable Meatloaf

Who doesn't like meatloaf? It's such a wonderful comfort food on a cold day. 

My meatloaf pictured on the left is chock full of goodies - carrots, celery, garlic, onions and more.

It's a great way to fool kids into eating vegetables because you can puree the ingredients in a blender if you prefer rather than leave them chunky as I have.

Here's what you need:


* 2 packages of ground chicken (substitute ground beef if you like it better) total weight 900 grams (2 lbs)
* 1 stalk of celery finely diced
* 2 medium carrots, finely diced
* 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
* 1/2 to 1 onion finely diced. I used the white part of leeks (to equal about 1/4 of a cup) rather than onion as I had some in the fridge that needed to be used
* 1 heaping tsp. of Italian seasoning 
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 1 beaten egg
* 1 tsp. ground flax seed (optional)
* 1/4 - 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs. You can use Italian seasoned bread crumbs if you want but don't use Panko as it is too coarse for this recipe
* 1/4 - 1/2 cup ketchup. Use spicy ketchup if you like a little more zip to your meatloaf

Here's what you do:

Saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the Olive Oil for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly softened. Let that cool while you mix all the other ingredients in a small bowl. If you don't like chunky, forget the saute part and simply blend the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in your blender until the consistency suits you. Then add it to the other ingredients.

You should adjust the ketchup and bread crumbs to suit the texture of your meatloaf. If it's too dry add more ketchup. Too wet? Add more bread crumbs.

The flax seed adds fibre and those important Omegas.

Mix well and pack into a medium size loaf pan. Put a thin layer of ketchup on top, cover with tin foil and bake in a 350' oven for 90 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 to 10 minutes. You can add grated cheese to the top for those last 5 minutes if you wish. When cooked, drain the fat and place meatloaf on a nice platter to take to the table.

I like to serve my meatloaf with homemade Mac & Cheese and a green salad.