A little liver love
Written by Julie Kelly
April 9, 2014
Liver. I'm going to hide it in the recipe, so I'm not going to hide it here too. At some point you need to face it, and learn to eat it. I know for some people 'offal' is actually a four letter word, but there are so many reasons it's worth your while to get past the hang ups about eating organ meats.
Here are my top three reasons for trying to incorporate it at least once a week:
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NUTRIENT DENSITY. This in it of itself should be reason enough. Too many vitamins and minerals to list, many of which you can't find anywhere else in your diet. Even if you just eat one type of organ meat a week, you owe it to yourself for the nutrients alone.
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Cost. Organ meats are the cheapest parts of any animal to consume. It's kind of incredible how many nutrients you get for the dollar. This one blows the whole "plaeo is too expensive" argument right out of the water.
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Fun. Yep, fun! Trying new ways of cooking and eating offal has proven to be a unique and enlightening experience, even for someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen. While sometimes I'm still a little skeptical of my creations, they have all turned out edible, and by the second or third time I've made something they have made a place in my regular repertoire. I also feel a great sense of pride over using parts of the animal that would typically end up as waste.
This particular meal is a great place to start if you are a little leery of liver. I've worked on it quite a bit and the version described below is my favorite meat loaf to date. Bacon really lends a helping hand.
Little Liver Meatloaf
1lb ground beef, room temperature
1/2 lb liver, fresh, cleaned
1/4 lb bacon, frozen, diced, extra unfrozen bacon for topping load optional
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup brown mushrooms, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
2 egg yolks
2-3 tbls almond flour or plantain flour
salt, pepper
herbs of choice, diced
Dice and combine all vegetables, cook on med high to remove excess water and soften all carrots and onions. Set aside to cool.
In a food processor, pulse the bacon until small pieces are achieved. Remove to a bowl with the ground beef. Repeat with the liver, pulsing 3-5 times.
Add cooled/warm veg to the meat, add eggs, almond flour/plantain flour, herbs, and spices, mix until just combined, careful not to overwork the meat.
Place in a loaf pan, top with optional bacon and bake at 350-400 degrees for about 45- 60 minutes depending on your oven. Cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Goes great with caulifllower mash and some saurkraut!
Play around with it! I've yet to try a recipe I followed and never mixed up a bit. Maybe you need more bacon and less liver...I now use a whole pound of liver and a whole pound of beef and make enough for two loaves of meat loaf.
Meatloaf is also a great place to sneak in a little extra veg. Try adding some spinach or kale, the kids wont even see it! This mix could also easily be meat balls or burger like patties. No matter what shape it takes, you'll be on your way to eating just a little more liver!
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