Meatloaf with Swiss Chard and Spinach

Find more of our recipes at the Traditional Foods site.

If you eat beef, it is a great way to fight iron deficiency because not only does it contain a fair amount of iron, it helps your body absorb iron from other high-phytic acid foods in your meal. You could serve this meatloaf roll with brown rice, for instance, and get more iron out of that brown rice, even eating a small portion of meat. For meat-eaters, it is a great strategy. (Extra gravy may make it slide down even easier.)

Meatloaf with Swiss Chard and Spinach Ingredients

• 4 cups water

• 4 cups Swiss chard, washed and stemmed
• 4 cups spinach, washed
• 1 finely minced onion
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 cup bread crumbs (optional)
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Meatloaf with Swiss Chard and Spinach Steps

1. Bring the water to a boil. Add the spinach and Swiss chard. Cook for two minutes. Remove the greens to a colander to drain.

2. Squeeze any additional water out of the greens and then chop them. Set aside the cooked, chopped greens.
3. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and bread crumbs. Work the mixture with your hands as you do making meatloaf. Work it until it is well blended and sticky.
4. Oil a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
5. Place a piece of baking parchment on the counter top. Place the meat mixture on the paper and pat it into a rectangle of about 12 by 10.
6. Spread the cooked greens over the rectangle.
7. Lift the parchment to help roll the meat. Roll the meat, jelly-roll style, starting with the 12 inch edge. This is easier than you would expect.
8. Place the roll in the oiled baking dish with the seam side down.
9. Dispose of your parchment paper.
10. Mix the mustard and maple syrup in a cup.
11. Coat the meal roll with this mustard maple glaze using a pastry brush.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.
13. Allow 15 minutes for the meat roll to cool and settle into shape before cutting in one-inch slices to serve.

As an option, use the drippings in your pan to make a gravy to serve over the meat. If your meat is particularly dry (as some grass fed beef cuts can be), this is a great option.

This post was shared at the Seasonal Recipe Roundup at GNOWFGLINS, Freaky Friday, Sunday School, Make Your Own Monday, Monday Mania, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Made With Love Monday, Real Food 101, Homestead Barn Hop, Traditional Tuesdays, Women Living Well, Whole Foods Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday.