Bethenny Frankel's Comfort Turkey Meat Loaf

Comfort food makes us all feel good, but it's usually not so good for our health.

But there are ways to tinker with classic recipes to make them a little healthier.

This week's recipe, from Bethenny Frankel of the Skinny Girl franchise, does just that. It's her more nutritious version of turkey meatloaf.

She describes it as: The comfort of meatloaf without the calories.

Hope you like it.

If you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share send to andrea.walker@baltsun.com and I'll post it on this blog.

Here Frankel's recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. minced garlic plus 1 tsp
• 1 tsp of each, chopped: thyme, rosemary
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 2 egg whites
• 1.5 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup soy milk or low fat milk
• 2/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 2 lb. ground turkey meat
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• ½ cup canned tomatoes, crushed or chopped
• Chopped parsley for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil and add onions, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened or caramelized (about 5 minutes).
3. Add 2 teaspoons garlic and the herbs and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
4. Cool the vegetable mixture and add the eggs, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and milk.  Mix until combined. ¿Add breadcrumbs, ground meat, salt and pepper, and mix only until incorporated.
5. Transfer to loaf pan and form.  Pour tomato mixture over the top and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
6. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh parsley. *Note:  Meatloaf is better when made a day before and reheated.

Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore Sun