On occasion, I find myself craving one of the ultimate comfort foods...no, not my most common go to - Macaroni & Cheese - but equally comforting meatloaf. There are insane amounts of meatloaf recipes floating around, the most appreciated usually being your own mother's version. For those of you out there that despised whatever family recipe you were forced to choke down as a child, I urge you to give it a second chance.

Meatloaf featured on the menu at least once a month for most of my childhood. By no means am I complaining. It was usually accompanied by another kiddo delight...tator tots...which T & I may or may not have indulged in for last night's meal. Moving on. While I appreciate and enjoy my mama's meatloaf, I was hoping to find a way to pack in more veggies than the standard onions mixed with meat, and ketchup topping used in almost all meatloaf recipes.

Lucky for you, I stumbled across a gem of an easy recipe, and altered it slightly to up the ante and include lots'o'veggies. YUM!

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients and ketchup glaze ingredients together. Press the meat mixture into the baking dish to make a loaf, of shape to your dish. Spread the ketchup glaze on top.

Step Three: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and bake for 1 hour.

Step Four: Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving, then enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network

OLD-FASHIONED MEATLOAF | Yield: 6-8 servings | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 C quick-cooking oats

Ketchup Topping:

2/3 C ketchup
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp prepared mustard

NOTE: I used grass-fed local organic ground beef for this recipe. I happened to be at the organic grocery store shopping for ingredients, and that's what I came across. You can use regular ground beef just as easily. I personally find that organic meat is usually more flavorful. If you get a chance to try it out for yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts, or if you know anywhere in NW Iowa where I can purchase it!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients together, and transfer to a glass baking dish. Pat down to shape of baking dish.

NOTE: I used a 8" x 10" baking dish, but whatever you have available is fine.

Ketchup Topping:

Mix all ketchup topping ingredients together and spread on top of meatloaf in dish. Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Do you have a favorite meatloaf recipe?

Cheesy Corn with Red Pepper Flakes

There may not be an easier side dish that requires less time and tastes as amazing as this recipe. NO JOKE. Not to downplay, but when I came across this recipe, I didn't expect much. I had all of the ingredients on hand, so thought I'd give it a whirl since I didn't want to spend much time on a side dish for my main meal. WOW! T & I were thoroughly impressed. Not only does this dish pack in the veggies, it also has some kick to boot! Yum.Yum.Yum. Seriously. Try it.

We liked it so much that I think next time I will make a meal of it. I like to think of it as a veggie mac & cheese, without the mac, and with LOTS of healthy veggies to balance out the cheese. This recipe could easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled. If you do decide to make more, I would suggest cutting down on the salt, and just seasoning after cooking if you feel like you need or want more.

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Melt butter, saute chopped green pepper 5 minutes. Add the remaining veggies and seasonings and heat for another 5 minutes.

Step Three: Sprinkle in the cheese just before serving.

Step Four: Be amazed at how delicious this simple dish is!

Recipe adapted from Budget Savvy Diva

CHEESY CORN WITH RED PEPPER FLAKES | Yield: 2 servings | Total Time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (14.5oz) corn (approx. 2 C)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 C tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 C cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp butter

NOTE: I used a can of corn, but frozen or fresh corn would easily work for this recipe. You could also try adding additional veggies if there are others that you like or have on hand. Jalepenos, red bell peppers, and red or green onions would all make excellent additions.

DIRECTIONS:

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add chopped green peppers, and saute 5 minutes. Drain corn (if using from can), and add to skillet along with tomatoes, salt, pepper, red chili flakes. Continue heating, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Just before serving, mix in shredded cheese until melted.

This side would be excellent with any grilled meat or BBQ dish, or served on it's own as a veggie alternative to Mac & Cheese.

Do you have any favorite side dishes that don't take much time?

Chipotle Orange Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice

Mmmm...The sweet tangy citrusy taste of orange, and the spicy smoky flavor of chipotle in adobo. Mix the two together, and its like....like....like magic. Like quite possibly fireworks like magic. Hold onto your hats folks, because this one is for the books.

Believe me, this chicken recipe is a stunner, and perfect for a QUICK and EASY weeknight dinner. Listen up all you single men out there...this one's for you! Luckily for me, T likes to prove his prowess not only at work, but also in the kitchen. He took the reigns and made this delicious recipe all by himself. I am so proud. Not only did I not have to cook, but this recipe was simple enough for him to follow and turned out quite impressive.

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Saute the chicken, remove to a plate and tent with foil. Make the sauce and add chicken back to skillet, turning to coat.

Recipe adapted from Clean Eating Mag and SkinnyTaste

CHIPOTLE ORANGE CHICKEN WITH CILANTRO LIME RICE | Yield: 4 servings | Total Time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry, pounded 1/2-inch thick
2 oranges, juiced
4 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tsp adobo sauce (from can of chipotle chilis)
2 tsp orange zest

CILANTRO LIME RICE
1 C extra long grain or jasmine rice
1/2 lime, juiced
2 C water
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
3 tsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin and 1/4 tsp salt. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chicken with chili-cumin mixture, and cook 3-4 minutes per side, or until it is no longer pink in the middle. Remove from to a plate and tent with foil while preparing the orange-chipotle glaze.

Add maple syrup and the juice from 2 oranges to the bits left in the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in chipotle chilis, adobo sauce and orange zest. Add chicken back to the skillet, and cook for 2 minutes, turning constantly to coat.

Serve chicken over cilantro-lime rice.

CILANTRO LIME RICE

In a small pot, add rice, water, 1 tsp oil and salt. Boil on high until most of the water evaporates. When the water just skims the top of the rice, reduce to low and cover about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered an additional 5 minutes before serving.

Curried Celery Root and Apple Salad with Golden Raisins

As promised, the recipe for that delicious slaw pictured on Wednesday's post. The entire meal was based around the fact that I had some celery root (celeriac) lying around in my fridge, and wanted a new way to cook with it. Celery root is a very unique vegetable that T & I were introduced to through our CSA.

As seen below, celeriac (more commonly called celery root in the produce department of your grocery store), looks very scary on the outside. I'm talking scary in the sense that your dinner guests may take one look at it and decide they want to go out to eat scary.

Once peeled, it just looks like an ordinary potato, and has a delicious mild fresh celery flavor. It is after all from the root of a celery plant. It's amazing the things most of us would just throw away. Who knew celery has an edible root?! I know what you'll be finding in my garden some day!

This year for Christmas I received a wonderful new cookbook that has an abundance of ideas for seasonal salads. When I saw this recipe, I knew it was calling my name, and that it would pair perfectly with Porter Braised Chicken and Hoisin Beer BBQ Sauce. I'm happy to announce, it did not disappoint. The flavor was light and the texture was crunchy, making for an excellent and very summery tasting salad in winter. T & I especially enjoyed the addition of the apples and raisins which brought this slaw to a whole new level of delicious.

Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma New Flavors for Salads

CURRIED CELERY ROOT & APPLES SALAD WITH RAISINS | Yield: 10 servings | Total Time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 C celery root (celeriac), grated*
2 granny smith apples, thinly sliced
4 tsp lemon juice, divided
1/2 C slivered almonds
1 C + 3 Tbps mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 C golden raisins
1/4 C flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt & pepper

*NOTE: If you do not have access to celery root, substitute 2-3 C from a bag of broccoli slaw. This can be found near the salad mixes at most grocery stores.

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and discard skin from the celery root, cut into quarters. Use a food processor with a grater attachment to grate celery root. You should have approximately 2-3 cups grated.

Halve and core the apples. Cut them into thin strips.* Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp lemon juice to prevent from discoloring.

*NOTE: I used a mandolin to achieve thin wafers of apple, then used a knife to slice into thin strips. You could try using a grater or just a plain old knife, but make sure the apple slivers are thick enough they won't disintegrate.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, 3 1/2 tsp lemon juice, honey, curry powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir in the almonds, celery root, apples, raisins, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasonings and mayo mix as necessary.