Paleo Meatloaf: End of Summer Twist

Can you believe it’s almost Labor Day!? We are so ready for fall. Cooler temperatures, warmer meals, tailgating, pumpkin and cider. I’ve been craving pumpkin beer for about a week, so I’m trying to clean out (read: drink) my summer ale collection before this weekend. I know that’s just silliness, but it makes sense to me. Just like white pants, it makes sense to guzzle the summer beers before Labor Day.

Even though it’s the end of summer, we still have tons of produce — none of which unfortunately, is from our garden. Last week, my mom gifted us a huge double bag of multiple varieties of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumber and squash. Our brave tomatoes soldiered through most of the summer, but finally succumbed to the heat a few weeks ago. It’s been a bummer first summer gardening. But thankfully we’ve been spoiled by the generosity of others and are eating like kings. Case in point, our latest Paleo meat loaf, made from garden tomatoes, pepper, kale and oregano, wrapped in bacon for extra yum factor.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork
2 pounds ground beef (we used 90/10)
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
1 cup kale, chopped (greens)
1 medium onion, diced
1 large tomato, diced
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoon fresh oregano
2 teaspoon fresh basil
1-2 tablespoons oil (coconut oil)
6 ounces thin-sliced bacon (an estimate, use as much as you’d like)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°. Lightly oil a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Depending on the size of your loaf pans, you might need two pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except bacon) and mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
3. Arrange bacon strips alongside one another in the bottom of the loaf pan. Press mixture into loaf pan, then arrange the remaining bacon strips over the top of the loaf.
4. Bake until bacon is crispy and meat loaf is firm, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing or moving to a serving platter.

Serves 6

Super juicy and fresh and the bacon adds a nice salty, crunchy texture over the top. Meat loaf is hard to make attractive, but the colorful array of veggies definitely helped our loaf in the looks department.

For this meal, I also tried out an easy recipe for a cold veggie salad that my mom found on Rachael Ray. It’s so easy! Sliced up veggies (tomatoes, onion and cucumber) tossed with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper. So fresh and tangy!

We are just a few days from our 1-year anniversary of being mostly Paleo. Can you believe it’s almost been a year!?