Santa Fe Meat Loaf

So I had to make this. It worried me a little, as I have never made a meatloaf. But it was pretty easy. Time wise, it took awhile. We had with Simply Potatoes tossed with Southwest Seasoning.

Santa Fe Meat Loaf


Slicing the loaf reveals a hidden layer of cheese. Leftovers are especially good on a sandwich. Serve with tossed green salad and corn bread.

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (I used 3/4 of a green pepper)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, minced (I used 6)
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (I used 2 chipotles...didn't seed...didn't measure)
1/2 pound 7% fat ground turkey (I used 93-7 ground beef)
1 pound ground turkey breast ( I used 93-7 ground beef)
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2/3 cup mild chunky salsa, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 slices 30%-less-fat center-cut bacon (such as Oscar Mayer), cooked and crumbled
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat finely shredded Mexican-style four cheese blend (such as Kraft 2% milk)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, and garlic to pan; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in chipotle chile; sauté 30 seconds. Remove from pan; cool. Combine onion mixture, turkey, turkey breast, breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup salsa, oregano, bacon, and egg whites in a large bowl.

Place half of turkey mixture in an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange cheese over top, leaving a 1/2-inch border around outside edges. Arrange remaining turkey mixture over cheese, pressing edges to pack. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup salsa over top of meat loaf. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 25 minutes (more like 40 minutes...since I used beef) or until a thermometer registers 165°. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cut into 12 slices.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 slices)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 288 (33% from fat); FAT 10.5g (sat 4g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.6g); IRON 2.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 88mg; CALCIUM 256mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.8g; SODIUM 876mg; PROTEIN 31.5g; FIBER 1.4g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2006