Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf

January is kind of an odd month. It's cold and snowy leaving you to long for some hot comfort food but at the same time the guilt begins to creep in from eating those that extra holiday cookies and that little voice in the back of your head keeps trying to remind you that you vowed to lose that 5 pounds this year starts to get really annoying. So you have the constant push and pull between wanting a chicken pot pie and wanting to succeed in that darn new years resolution you made to eat healthier and lose the jolly pooch you got for Christmas.

It is not easy to find satisfying comfort food that you feel good about eating without having to spend the whole week at the gym trying to work it off. This is kind of my goal this winter; to balance the longing for comfort food and still be able to get into my jeans without having to do the "please fit" wiggle, or jig if you will. I don't think the guy below me appreciates the sound of someone jumping up and down and rolling around on the floor above him. I am not a big fan of his loud music or video game playing at all hours of the night but that is a different story.

This here meatloaf might be my first success this winter. I got the idea to use quinoa in meatloaf from a recipe on allrecipes.com and went from there combining different recipes to achieve what I think is a perfect balance of indulgence and guilt-free food. I love the glaze on this (thanks to Alton Brown) and the use of turkey. You barely miss the fatty ground beef...I promise :)

(little disclaimer: it looks like a lot of ingredients but a lot of it you should already have in your pantry)

Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf
Adapted from allrecipes.com and foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

For the loaf:
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 (20 ounce) package lean ground turkey
1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

For the glaze:
1/2 cup reduced-sugar ketchup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, carrot and pepper; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.

Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, carrots, pepper, bread crumbs, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, cayenne, thyme and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. The mixture will be very moist. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F. Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Combine the ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.