Nice and Easy

There really is no denying it: The Jersey Girl is the worst blogger eva.


I have no excuse, well, I guess I do have some excuses but as I tell my piano students: We can come up with a million different reasons to NOT do something, when really we only need ONE SUPER AWESOME REASON to DO something. And, my bottom line is that I LOVE beyond a reasonable doubt to cook and to write so I need to get it together and do this blog thang more regularly. For reals.

So, here is a turkey meatloaf. The funny thing is I made this back in February. Eek. Procrastinating is SO not my bag, baby. And, yet, here we are in April and I am finally sharing with you the recipe. The second funny thing is that I’ve actually made two turkey meatloaves in the past few months, but the other one doesn’t look as pretty, even though it tasted equally as delish.

This particular recipe comes from Giada. I don’t know. Ever since bearing my child, I’ve been cooking a lot of Giada recipes. I think the reason is because they are quite easy. I’m totally not knocking her, because easy is what I’m all about at the moment. The meatloaf includes sundried tomatoes and feta cheese and it’s way yummy.

I normally tell all y’all what else I served with the recipe at hand, but I made this so long ago that I actually forget.

God, I get an F-minus today. I probably made mashed potatoes, but I also have a recollection of cous cous being involved so I may be off on the potato thing. And there of course was a veg, because no matter what time of day something green or yellow or red or orange is always on my plate.

Anyhoo, this is majorly yum yum. And in our house yum yum is good. Just, ask Baby Evan, who today is 5 months old and has been loving his yum yum carrots, squash, pears and peaches. Yay!

I cut way down on the salt. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp. which is way high in my humble opinion. I used 1/2. tsp.

Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sundried Tomatoes
By Giada De Laurentiis
From "Giada at Home"

Vegetable cooking spray

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped garlic and herb-marinated sun-dried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, if using, eggs, olive oil, feta, salt, and pepper. Add the turkey and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat.

Carefully pack the meat mixture into the prepared pan and bake until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and slice. Put on a serving platter and serve.

Please note: The recipe link to the Food Network Web site calls for 2 Tbsp. whole milk instead of 1/4 cup olive oil. The Jersey Girl used extra large eggs. She also used 1/2 tsp. of salt instead of 1 1/2 tsp. of salt.