Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf, "Make It Again"

Sometimes I get annoyed because Chris doesn’t give much detail. For example when I make dinner I usually ask him, “Hey, did you like it?” and he almost always says “yes.” However, I have discovered that when I try to make the same recipe again, he will sometimes say, “Oh, you are making that again?” with a squishy-faced expression. And then I remind him that last time I made it he said that he liked it!

 At this point Chris will say, “Well, yeah…it was good, but you’ve made better stuff.” It is at this point I know that Chris didn’t really like it. I don’t know if this is normal with most guys, but Chris ‘likes’ almost everything, meaning he will eat anything. There are some things he REALLY likes. So now, instead of  just asking Chris whether or not he ‘likes’ it, I ask him if he would want me to make it again! He said that he wants me to make this one again…

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 large clove garlic, chopped
• 1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 siracha sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

 Sauce:

• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• Splash of water
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and chicken broth 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 (it is pretty similar to rice). Sauté the onions over medium high heat in the olive oil. Add a dash of cayenne pepper & chili powder. When onions are translucent add the garlic cloves. Sauté until you smell the garlic! Combine the quinoa and onions. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F
3. Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. The mixture will be very moist. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined loaf pan. Combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf. (I actually forgot to put the sauce on top of the loaf before I cooked it. I poured the sauce on top after it was cooked and then let it sit at 200 degrees F for about 20 minutes and then broiled it.)
4. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (I let it cook to 180 to be safe) Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This is the Quinoa after it was cooked

Fact: I love onions

I added an entire can on tomato paste and then found out it was supposed to be only 1 tablespoon which is why it was super red looking. Trust me, 1 can tasted good and made it very moist.

I lined the loaf pan with foil which made it really easy to take out and cut up for plates

I got the basics of the recipe on Allrecipes.com but as usual I made lots of changes to it.