Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf or Meatballs

To make this meatloaf/meatballs dish, I reviewed a few turkey meatloaf recipes online. Common ingredients are ground turkey, tomato paste or sauce, egg, soy sauce, veggies, herbs and breadcrumbs or quinoa.

I really wanted to make sloppy joes as well but I thought the combination of turkey and quinoa (from a Whole Foods Market recipe) - instead of breadcrumbs - was a great healthy dish. However, I wanted a thick, flavourful sauce for the meatloaf so I used this Whole Foods Market sloppy joes recipe for the sauce.

An egg can be used in the recipe below but I decided to use a chia-egg (1tbsp chia seeds and 45ml water). I also added in several herbs to give the turkey and quinoa lots of flavour. The cooked meatballs reminded me of pork and herb sausages.

In the past, I've made meatloaf without the meat, using lentils and walnuts as well as lentils and cottage cheese!

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf or Meatballs
Makes 6 slices or 18 meatballs (3 meatballs each)

Ingredients:
Meatloaf/Meatballs
- 225g / 8oz quinoa
- 1/2tsp thyme, dried
- 1/2tsp marjoram, dried
- 1/2tsp oregano, dried
- 1/2tsp basil, dried
- 1/4tsp ground black pepper
- 160g / 6oz onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 85g / 3oz carrot
- 56g / 2oz / 2 stalk celery
- 560g / 20oz lean ground turkey mince, (I use 93% lean)
- 14g / 1tbsp chia seeds soaked in 60ml / 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes
- 45ml / 3tbsp soy sauce, low sodium

Tomato Sauce
- 225g / 8oz tomato sauce, no salt added
- 165g / 6oz tomato paste
- 20g / 1tbsp agave nectar OR honey
- 20ml / 4tsp balsamic vinegar
- 10g / 2tsp yellow mustard
- 120ml / 4floz water

Method:

• Cook the quinoa and allow to cool.
• Transfer to a large bowl and add the dried herbs and ground black pepper.
• In a food processor, finely chop the onion and garlic. Transfer to a pan.
• Add the carrot and celery to the food processor, and pulse until finely chopped. Add to the pan.
• Cook the vegetables for 5-7 minutes, adding a splash of water to the pan to keep them from sticking to the base. 
• Transfer the cooked veg to the bowl of quinoa. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the turkey mince, chia-egg and soy sauce.
• Add the turkey mixture to the bowl of quinoa veg and mix everything together (with hands if desired).
• Scrape the mixture onto a baking sheet and form into a loaf, approx. 4x10 inches / 10x25cm.
• Bake in the oven at 220C / 425F for 40 minutes.
• If making meatballs, roll into 18 balls and bake in the over for 20-25 minutes turning once halfway through.
• Whilst the meatloaf/meatballs are cooking, make the tomato sauce.
• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a pan and stir gently for 5-10 minutes.
• Pour the sauce over the meatloaf/meatballs and serve with green veg. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

Tomato Sauce with Black Beans

This is a really simple and quick sauce that has a sweet vinegar flavour. I use two kinds of tomatoes to give some additional texture - diced and petite diced - but any canned tomatoes and/or fresh ones will be fine. The sugars are all natural, from the tomatoes, and the black beans give a great serving of fiber - 8g in total.

Try it with my Sweet Potato Gnocchi:

Tomato Sauce with Black Beans
Makes 4

Ingredients:
- 400g / 14oz diced tomatoes, no salt added
- 800g / 28oz petite diced tomatoes, no salt added
- 425g / 15oz black beans, no salt added
- 66g / 4tbsp tomato paste
- 30ml / 2tbsp soy sauce, light
- 60ml / 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Method:

• In a large saucepan, add all ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes, until sauce has thickened.
• Serve with pasta, gnocchi or courgette noodles. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

Almond Tomato Pasta

This is another quick and easy pasta recipe. The sauce can be made whilst the pasta is cooking - i.e. less than 10 minutes. A handful of fresh basil can be used instead of dried, and olive oil can be used instead of nonfat Greek yogurt to make the recipe more like a pesto pasta dish. However, the oil will add more calories and fat to the nutritional content.

Almond Tomato Pasta

Makes 2

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:

- 112g / 4oz pasta

- 28g / 1oz almonds

- 1 clove garlic, chopped

- 140g / 5oz / 1 medium tomato, chopped

- 112g / 4oz nonfat Greek yogurt

- 1tsp basil, dried

- 1/2tsp red pepper flakes

- 1tsp vinegar

Method:

Boil the pasta in a pan of water.

Meanwhile, using a food processor grind the almonds.

Add the garlic, tomato, yogurt, basil, red pepper flakes and vinegar and blend to combine all ingredients.

Drain the pasta and heat the sauce in the pan to warm through. ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Hatch Chile Pepper Sauce - Version II

This is the second version of my Hatch chile pepper sauce recipe. The first version is here. The recipe below is thicker and contains no fat! It's simply vegetables blended together to make an ideal sauce for pasta or salsa. As the second version doesn't have as much liquid as the first version, the intensity of the spices and chile peppers is stronger. It packs a punch but isn't overwhelming.

Hatch Chile Pepper Sauce - Version II
Makes 4 servings
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
- 160g / 5.5oz onion, chopped
- 1.5tbsp chili powder
- 2tsp cumin
- 1tsp cayenne pepper
- 110g / 4oz mushrooms, chopped
- 85g / 3oz tomato paste
- 411g / 14.5oz diced tomatoes, no added salt
- 900g / 32oz Hatch green chile peppers, roasted and peeled (see roasting instructions here)

Method:
In a pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook onion and mushrooms for approx. 5 minutes.
Add the spices and tomato paste, plus 60ml/4tbsp water.
In a food processor, blend together the diced tomatoes and roasted green chilies.

Add to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add all ingredients to the food processor and blend to form a smooth sauce.

Serve over pasta. ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Hatch Chile Pepper Sauce - Version I

It's Hatch chile pepper season again. Grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, these peppers are a great way to add spice and flavour to many dishes, including pasta and meat sauces, salsa, hummus, enchiladas, mole and casseroles. They can even be used to bake into bread and cookies.

The Hatch Chile Festival website has some interesting facts (including the following:
One fresh medium-sized green chile pod has as much Vitamin C as six oranges) and recipes.

Most recipes featuring hatch chiles require the peppers to be roasted and the skins peeled. I used the oven to roast my peppers, but a grill or BBQ can also be used. I found out the hard way that gloves should be worn when roasting and peeling chile peppers. It's not advisable to rub your eyes - it stings! - and my fingertips feel like they are on fire!

Method:
Wash and dry the peppers. Place on a baking tray.

Roast at 230C / 450F for 10 mins or until skin is charred and blistered, but not blackened, turning halfway.

Place roasted peppers in paper or plastic bag or container. Seal the bag or cover the container and let the peppers steam for 10-15 mins to loosen the peel.
Pull the skin off the peppers, de-seed and chop.

The first version below (second version to follow) contains flour and butter, plus stock to make a more liquidy sauce, which is ideal for using with meat. It takes a little longer to cook as the liquid needs to reduce but this allows time for all the flavours to infuse.

Hatch Chile Pepper Sauce - Version I
Makes 5 servings
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
- 42g / 3tbsp butter
- 30g / 4tbsp flour
- 160g / 5.5oz onion, chopped
- 1.5tbsp chili powder
- 2tsp cumin
- 1tsp cayenne pepper
- 960ml / 32oz vegetable OR chicken broth, reduced sodium
- 411g / 14.5oz diced tomatoes, no added salt
- 900g / 32oz Hatch green chile peppers, roasted and peeled

Method:
Make roux sauce by melting the butter and whisking in flour. Stir on a low heat for 10 minutes until the roux turns the colour of peanut butter.

In a pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook onion until lightly brown. Add the spices and stock. Bring to a light boil, reduce to simmer and slowly add roux, whisking to blend.

In a food processor, blend together the diced tomatoes and roasted green chilies.

Add to the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with lean ground turkey or beef - simply stir the sauce into meat - quinoa or rice and fresh vegetables. ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce recipe is so simple and delicious. The small amount of mixed herbs gives it a lovely 'Italian' taste. It's goes great with pasta for a quick lunch and can be easily refrigerated and frozen.

Initially, I was conscious of the sugar and sodium content when I made it as tomatoes are naturally sweet, with 3g sugars per 125g serving. I only added in a little honey as one tablespoon has 16g sugars. As I made a big batch using two large cans of tomatoes (800g each), the sugars got divided into six (for each cup).

Cans of diced tomatoes can have 200-300mg sodium per serving unless you buy the no added salt variety, which then takes the sodium count down to 10-20mg. It's a very dramatic amount and will add to the overall nutritional value of a dish when using the sauce in another recipe, for example Lentil Loaf (which also includes soy sauce).

On this occasion I didn't use no added salt tomatoes as the supermarket didn't sell large cans with the option of less sodium. It was a trade off between saving money by buying larger cans and compromising on my health by accepting the higher sodium count. 

In the future, I may use no added salt tomatoes and half the honey just to compare the nutritional information as well as the taste. It may not be as good as sugar and sodium both are used to enhance flavour and taste. However, I'm not a big fan of salty foods and will be interested to see if I notice the difference in sugar reduction.

Tomato Sauce

Makes 6 cups

Ingredients:

- 225g / 8oz onions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed

- 30ml / 2tbsp olive oil

- 1600g / 3.6lb (57oz) diced tomatoes
- 40g / 2tbsp honey
- 1tsp mixed dried herbs

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic until clear.
Add the tomatoes, honey and mixed herbs.

Boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Blend the ingredients together using a hand-held blender or food processor to form a smooth sauce.
ENJOY!

Nutritional Information: