Libby Klein I suspect that meatloaf is an American week-night dinner-time staple. I have always made a traditional meatloaf with Italian seasoning, garlic, and lots of ketchup on top. That's how my mother made it, and how her mother made it. If we were very lucky, we had scalloped potatoes to go with it, but that's another post. Because I can't be happy with just having celiac and needing to go gluten-free, I've also developed an allergy to nightshades. And if I'm going to break out into hives, it better be from pizza and not meatloaf. I like meatloaf, but not enough to take a Benadryl for it. So I've come up with an alternative recipe that is nightshade free, but still has amazing meatloaf flavor. I use a paleo portobello mushroom seasoning in this recipe, but you can use anything you like. Just know that if you have a nightshade allergy like I do, paprika is off the table. The real star of the party is the maple bacon onion jam that replaces the ketchup. I know it looks like that jar is empty, but I had just enough.
Tell me in the comments, what is in your family meatloaf recipe? And do you eat it the same night every week?
No Tomato Meatloaf
Ingredients:
Directions
Mix together gently. You want a light touch here. If you pack it tightly you get a tough meatloaf. I wore kitchen nitrile gloves to do this and my mind went immediately to Professor T on PBS Mystery. I don't know how he can stand to wear those gloves all day like that. After five minutes of mixing meatloaf I was irritated with them. When your meatloaf is thoroughly mixed together, pack with gentle pressure into your casserole dish. I like to tuck it in on all four sides but maybe that's just me.
Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/
We do love meatloaf, but we don't eat it on a regular basis or certain day of the week. We eat it when the desire says it's time. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the yummy recipe, which I'm going to have to try. The usage of the maple bacon onion jam sounds heavenly.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I'm not a routine cook either. And since becoming a writer, we order in a lot more often than we used to. Sometimes it's a toss up between cooking something easy and getting a kabob.
DeleteThis looks like a good alternative.
ReplyDeleteMy! You do have your food limitations!
Where do you get your maple bacon onion jam? It sounds wonderful.
I do at that! I'm getting itchy just thinking about nightshades. Stonewall Kitchen makes a really good MBO jam that I can find at my local grocery, but you can find it on Amazon too. I recently bought an apple onion jam that I thing would be perfect on a pork roast!
DeleteYou had me at maple bacon onion jam! Marc and I are meatloaf lovers, and this is a great alternative for anyone who has a problem with nightshade ingredients. Heck, it's a great recipe period. (LOL on the pizza being worth the Benadryl. I hear you, sister! :)) xoxo
ReplyDeleteI had never even thought about making meatloaf without the ketchup until I signed up for a Let's Dish session. Pre-prepped entree that you throw together to cook at home. They did a meatloaf with a red wine reduction instead of tomato sauce and my mind was blown!
DeleteYikes, I feel you. I have had nightshade food intolerance that comes & goes. The most recent period (2018-2022) meant I could not eat tomatoes, sweet bell peppers or chili peppers. Full body rash, swollen face, and mouth were the symptoms. No fun. And I had to change my regular recipes to be nightshade-free.
ReplyDeleteI could eat eggplant & potatoes, which are also nightshade.
But since 2023, I can eat tomatoes & sweet bell peppers again. Bit iffy about chili peppers, as I found out during my recent trip to Singapore where they add sambar or chili sauce (on the side) to almost every dish!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my nightshade allergic reaction on my flight back from Singapore-Vancouver. It was a 15-hour flight, and both entrees (pork & chicken) + midway snack (chicken tikka masala) all had chilis or spices with chilis in the meals. CRAZY, they had no other options. Ugh. So I ate the pork belly with achar. It was yummy but my face was all red & splotchy by the time we landed in Vancouver.
DeleteI understand very well. I usually stick to gluten-free, and take Benadryl for all the other allergies when I'm away from home. If I were travelling through Singapore I would want to try all the things!
DeleteI have used Benadryl but if I still get the red splotchy face or rash, the allergic lasts for 1-2 weeks. And yes Singapore is a foodie's paradise. I did pretty good to avoid a bad reaction to any food. I had a new reaction to my facial mineral sunscreen do I stopped using it & wore a big floppy hat.
DeleteThank you. Love.meatloaf but not only coeliac, also allergic to dairy products. Is the cream essential? X
ReplyDeleteAny time you want to replace cream, you can use coconut cream. The purpose of cream in meatloaf and meatballs is to tenderize and keep the meat from drying out. If you don't like the flavor of the coconut milk, you can try adding a Tablespoon of bacon fat to the meat.
DeleteMy aunt when I was little mix hers with bread, tomato paste & ketchup, one of my cousins use crackers with tomato paste & ketchup
ReplyDeleteThose are all very traditional. 1 cup of bread crumbs or crackers is how you stretch a pound of ground beef to feed a family of eight!
DeleteHow sad! I am so sorry. I absolutely love tomatoes! I use 1 small can of tomato sauce, 1 egg, either dried minced onions or a packet of onion soup mix, oatmeal, salt and pepper. I will put ketchup or chili sauce on top. I usually serve it with mashed potatoes and gravy and a veggie. I do love scalloped potatoes too! Most pizza places have a white sauce they can use or just tell them no sauce and I think it is yummy too!
ReplyDeleteYour recipe brings back such memories for me!
DeleteWhat a fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to try it. Your inventiveness in face of dietary restrictions is really inspiring. I have family members with restrictions and am very pedestrian with figuring out what to serve. This is a great addition to the recipe inventory.
ReplyDeleteI hope you and they love it. Where there is a will to eat well, there is a way to find a substitution and make it work!
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