Low-Fat Spinach & Cheese Meatloaf

Low-Fat Spinach & Cheese Meatloaf from Debbi Does Dinner
Meat mixture:
3 slices bread, crust removed
1/2 c. milk
1 lb. ground chicken
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 egg white
1 tsp. oregano
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.  Tear bread into 1 inch pieces. Put in a bowl, pour in the milk and mash the bread with a fork until all the milk is absorbed.  In another bowl, mix the chicken, mustard, egg white, oregano and pepper.  Add in the bread mixture and mix well, until creamy.  Press the meat mixture onto the baking sheet so that it covers 1/2 the baking sheet.  Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour (up to three hours).

Filling:
1 10 oz. package of frozen spinach
3 green onions, chopped (green part only)
1 egg white
Fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
Parmesan cheese, grated, about 1/3 cup

Directions:  Thaw and drain spinach. Press out all the water.  Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the spinach and onion and cook until mixture is somewhat dry and the onions begin to wilt, about 5-6 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool. Mix in egg white and season with lots of pepper. Preheat oven to 350.  Remove baking sheet from fridge and spread the spinach mixture over the meat, leaving 1 inch border all the way around.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top.  Starting at the end closest to you, use the foil to lift the meat and roll jelly roll style, pushing forward a little bit at a time.  Bake at 350 for about an hour.  Serve with tomato sauce.

Here's what I started with: 

 Here's how I did it:

#1 I cut the crust off of 3 pieces of bread.  Then, I tore the bread up into pieces.

#2 I added milk to the bread.  A fork was used to smash up the bread and soak up the milk.

#3 In a separate bowl I mixed the turkey, mustard, egg white and oregano.

#4 To the meat, I added the bread mixture and kneaded it all together.

#5 Then I took a baking sheet and place tin foil on it.  I sprayed the tin foil with cooking spray and then pressed out the meat onto 1/2 of the sheet.  It then went into the refrigerator for about 2 1/2 hours.

#6 After about 2 1/2 hours, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

#7 Cut up 3 green onions.

#8 I thawed out a box of frozen spinach and drained it by squeezing it in a towel.

#9 Once the spinach was drained, it went into a pan with olive oil and the onions.

#10 I put the onions and spinach into a bowl to let it cool.  Then, I added 1 egg white and lots of pepper.

#11 The spinach was spread over the turkey.  I was supposed to put the parmesan cheese on top of the spinach here but I forgot it.

#12 I then rolled the meat up like a jelly roll.  It was kind of sticky and mushy but it really helped that I had sprayed the tin foil with cooking spray.

#13 Into the oven it went.  I sprinkled the top with parmesan cheese.

#14 Once the meatloaf had cooked for about 45 minutes, I poured tomato sauce all on top and sprinkled a little more cheese.

The Finished Product:

Review:

This dish was so good!  I loved that by adding the spinach to the middle of it I was able to sneak in some extra veggies.  This would also be a great way to put some carrots or celery into the dish just by running them through the food processor.

I only used about 1/4 of the can of tomato sauce on top so we actually used it to pour over when we were eating, too.  I can see how this might have a tendency to be a little dry just because turkey does not have a lot of fat in it.

Hope you enjoy!

April