Next up on our trying out some new recipes was Chicken Basil Meatloaf. I went to my new favorite go-to recipe source PaleOMG. The recipe can be found here. I did make some changes. It calls for fresh parsley, but I had this amazing basil that my niece had grown in her garden, dried, and given me for Christmas. So I used 1/3 of the amount that it called for.
It also calls for parsley. I didn’t have any….what?! How is that possible? I don’t know either, but that was the fact. I looked around for what you can substitute. Everything said parsley doesn’t add much taste but didn’t give me an alternative. So I did what I do best, I improvised. I made an executive decision and added 1/2 tsp. of tarragon and 1/2 tsp of dill weed. I think this was a good decision because while we all liked it fine, something still seemed lacking. Now that may have been because I didn’t use fresh basil, but honestly, I can’t imagine it having a heavier basil taste. It also may have been because it was ground chicken and we all have this mindset of ground beef in a meatloaf. It did throw the boys off a little. The recipe does say that you can choose to use different meats instead. I would probably make it again but will tweak the recipe even more and then decide if it stays in our rotation.
I made roasted cauliflower with the meatloaf. I had a partial head, probably 1/3 of one. I put about 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil into a bowl and put the cauliflower on top. I sprinkled it liberally with salt and tossed. I knew that I wanted something else for some flavor. I looked through my spices and decided on sage. I ended up using 1/8 tsp of sage and the dark green color made me feel like that would be trouble and nobody would eat it. I decided to add 1/8 tsp of turmeric. I try to add turmeric anywhere that I can sneak it in since the curcumin in it is an anti-inflammatory and so many western diseases are caused by inflammation. I was still a little nervous about how it would go over. I put it in the oven with the meatloaf at 375 F for about 25 minutes, watching for browning. If I was cooking it alone, I would have done 400 F for 20 minutes. Next time, I will mix the spices with the oil before tossing the cauliflower into it. Everybody loved it and I will make again. I was so excited that my little experiment turned out so successfully.
Do you have a favorite place to find recipes or any recipes that have turned out better than expected? I’d love to know!
Let your light shine!
Amy
I love your use of spices in this recipe! I’ve recently become obsessed with adding them to EVERYTHING.
I ended up having to buy stock in parsley. OK, not really, but I did have to buy it in bulk. If I ever do run out, however, I will certainly be playing around like you did!