Perfect Chipotle Meatloaf

At The Perfect Pantry, Lydia writes about Dry bread crumbs, in chipotle meatloaf. I love chipotles, and meatloaf is always a favorite at our house, so this recipe sounds promising. Lydia's suggested serving, though, supplies more than we generally need -- 5 1/3 ounces of meat, 400 calories and 1037 mg of sodium (close to my daily limit of sodium). 581 mg of that sodium comes from the 1 1/2 teaspoons of added salt, 158 mg from the ketchup, 116 from the bread crumbs, 56g from the romano cheese (I assume 2 Tablespoons grated is a fluffy half an ounce), and only 27 mg from the chipotles in adobo sauce (assuming a tablespoon is 14mg of chipotle with adobo).

The recipe is still a good one, if I increase the servings to 10, eliminate the added salt, and switch to low-sodium kethup. Each portion now contains 3 1/3 ounces of lean meat, 240 calories, and 175 mg of sodium -- better for my family!

I compared Lydia's meatloaf to my standby recipe, which has 3 1/3 ounces of ground turkey, 195 calories and 99 mg of sodium. Adding a proportional half tablespoon of chipotles in adobo and one tablespoon of romano cheese would add 9 calories and 30 mg of sodium, for a total of 205 calories and 135 mg of sodium. My recipe is slightly lower in fat because turkey is a leaner meat, and lower in sodium because oats are less salty than breadcrumbs. Because I already have dried chipotles on hand, I'd be just as likely to use them, maybe adding a little cumin nad oregano as well. That would give me about 108 mg of sodium per serving. These small difference might not be important to you unless you are watching your blood pressure or coddling your kidneys.

Turkey Meatloaf

This tasty meatloaf is quick and easy to prepare and low in calories, fat, and sodium. The kids love it.
Recipe By: DASH Eating Plan fact sheet, 2003

-= Ingredients =-
1 pound ground turkey ; lean
1/2 cup Quick oats ; dry
1 large Egg ; whole
1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
1/4 cup Low-sodium catsup
2 teaspoon no-salt added Seasoning ; italian, curry powder, etc.

-= Instructions =-
Preheat oven to 375°F
Mix all ingredients together and bake in loaf pan for 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature is 165°F
Cut into 5 slices.

Nutritional Summary
Each (1/5 of loaf; 123g) serving contains:
Cals: 194, FatCals: 100, TotFat: 3g
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 0g, MonoFat: 1g
Chol: 130mg, Na: 98mg, K: 116mg
TotCarbs: 10g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 3g
NetCarbs: 9g, Protein: 22g

Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 0.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.2: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 1.1: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.4
USDA: Vegetables: 0.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.2: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 3.4: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.4

Nutritional information in this post calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references. Nutritional Information for La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce from Wegman's online product catalog.