The "I would do anything for..." meatloaf

We are up to our ears in leftovers at the moment, so I've been exercising all my self-restraint to not cook recently. So today I will rely on an oldie but a goodie, which I recently passed on to my friend Neville. Neville went to W&L with Andrew and me, and was the 'Quasimodo' in our wedding: he rang the bell during the recessional, which was just lovely. He just started his own blog, which features a crossword every Friday. Make sure you check it out--it goes live tomorrow!

Meatloaf is not the most glamorous meal, I know. I think of it as a relic of the 1950's, the era of canned pineapple in Jell-O and frozen TV dinners and Julia Child hasn't yet re-taught Americans how to cook. As a French major, I can be a little snobby about food sometimes. But there's some charm in meatloaf's simplicity and modesty. Ground beef is about the cheapest meat you can find, and the recipe is super-simple to prepare; I think it might take you five minutes from start to oven.

This is the meatloaf recipe I grew up with--the recipe that compelled even my daddy, who obstinately declares that he hates meatloaf, to come back for thirds every time. Andrew requested it during our first week in our little house, so Mommy emailed me her tried-and-true recipe. I chatted on Skype with Neville while I was cooking, and he confessed that he was not much of a meatloaf eater--so I sent the recipe off to him and he has now made it several times. Neville is the one who started referring to this as "Katherine's 'I would do anything for...' meatloaf" because, well, you know.

The natural companion for meatloaf is potatoes--I mashed them, but I also love roasting them in a little butter--and whatever fresh veggies you have on hand. I love my meatloaf pan, which has a removable insert so all the fat drains out, but any loaf pan will work.

My magical meatloaf pan

Meatloaf from my mother, Sallie Roberts

Mix together in a mixing bowl:

1 egg
1/2-1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup tomato juice (she notes: you can buy small cans)
1 tsp pepper (I would use less)
1 tsp salt

Add 1 lb uncooked lean ground beef or mix of ground beef, pork and veal
Bake 45 min at 350 degrees.

How easy is that? Andrew is not a green pepper person, so I substituted half an onion to keep the same consistency. He found that to be a little oniony, although I wonder what would happen if I sauteed it first. But Andrew still went back for fourths...