Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

This meat loaf has veggies in every bite

Recipe: Turkey-carrot loaf is good served warm or cold

Meat loaf on a plate
This turkey meat loaf has vegetables in every bite. (Photos:
Debbie Arrington)

Happy Mother’s Day! What better gift than a useful and tasty recipe?

Moms are always trying to find ways to get their family to eat more vegetables, and this clever turkey-carrot loaf puts veggies in every bite. Carrots add moisture to the loaf while it's baking. The bread crumbs (preferably fresh) and Parmesan cheese help bind the turkey and carrots together.

Turkey sausage has its own built-in seasoning. If you substitute 2 pounds of ground turkey for the half and half mix of turkey and turkey sausage, add more salt and pepper to taste.

This turkey-carrot loaf also makes a wonderful sandwich.

Turkey-carrot loaf

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup onion, finely chopped (about 1 medium onion)

1 cup carrots, grated (about 2 carrots)

1 cup bread crumbs

Mixed veggies
Mix together grated carrots, onions and bread crumbs before
adding turkey and seasonings.

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

½ cup milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound ground turkey sausage

Note: May use 2 pounds ground turkey instead of 1 pound each ground turkey and turkey sausage.

Baked meat loaf
Let the meat loaf rest before serving.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine onion, carrots, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add in milk, egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Crumble ground turkey and ground sausage and mix into onion-carrot mixture. Stir until well combined.

Turn turkey-carrot mixture into a large baking dish or pan and form into a loaf. Bake in 400-degree oven for 10 minutes. Decrease heat to 375 degrees. Bake 40 to 50 minutes more until loaf is golden brown and, when tested with an instant-read thermometer, measures 165 degrees F.

Let loaf rest 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.
RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Garden Checklist for week of June 15

Make the most of this “average” weather; your garden is growing fast! (So are the weeds!)

* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Pull weeds before they go to seed.

* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather. It also helps smother weeds.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!