Meatloaf: Classic dish can be made more healthy

Meatloaf season has arrived.

A staple since the mid-1800s, when ground beef first became available as a grocery item in America, meatloaf soon became an all-time comfort food. For decades thereafter, recipes for meatloaf abounded in women's magazines and cookbooks, where it often was teamed with mashed potatoes, gravy and canned green beans.

The dish was once ubiquitous on the American landscape, then fell into obscurity, disdained as too old-fashioned. It has re-emerged in recent years, thanks to a wave of nostalgia for retro foods.

These days, ground turkey, pork, veal and lamb are often combined with ground beef to reach new depths of flavor. Plus, many meatloaf recipes call for surprising ingredients: dried cranberries, olives, wild mushrooms, cheese, pecans and other nuts, and a garden of fresh herbs. Topping the loaf with a from-scratch sauce opens the door to even more depths of flavor.

What is it about meatloaf that keeps us coming back for seconds? Is it that it's versatile, easy to make and tastes great?

"It's all those things and more," said Molly Hawks, co-owner with her husband, Michael Fagnoni, of Hawks restaurant in the Quarry Ponds Town Center in Granite Bay. "We all grew up with meatloaf, so it holds memories for a lot of people, including myself."

Hawks is a serious, four-star dining destination. So what is something as mundane as meatloaf doing on its menu?

Well, technically it's not there. But it does rotate with other classic dishes such as fried chicken and fish 'n' chips as part of Hawks' "Sunday Supper" program, which offers four-course prix-fixe meals for $35 per person on Sunday evenings.

"Meatloaf is something everybody's mom always made," Fagnoni said. "Along those lines, for Sunday Supper, we've made homestyle dishes a little fancier."

Like sliders and mac 'n' cheese, meatloaf is a retro dish that has found new favor with younger diners. With that as a starting point, its full-time inclusion on the menus of finer restaurants is almost trendy.

Of course, a plate of meatloaf with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy is comforting in part because of the "mouth feel" it imparts, thanks to its fat content. How can home cooks make it more healthful?

"The key is to use lean meat," said registered dietitian Ellie Krieger. "You can use ground beef if it's 90 percent lean. Ground turkey is a good choice because it's between 90 percent and 99 percent lean."

Krieger hosts "Healthy Appetite" on the Food Network and is the author of cookbooks focused on healthful eating, including the James Beard Award-winning "The Food You Crave." Her new title is "So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week" (Wiley, $29.95); her Web site is www.healthylivingwithellie.com. She shared some of her healthful-cooking techniques recently on NBC's "Today" show.

"Using lean meat doesn't mean you have to sacrifice the moisture and flavor you're familiar with," she said. "Continue to use the traditional flavor elements, like garlic, onion and Worcestershire sauce. (Also) you can't go wrong with fresh herbs, such as thyme or sage. Or you can go totally Southwest with cumin, coriander, oregano and chili peppers."

What about the traditional bread-based binder?

"I love to use quick-cooking oats soaked in milk, instead of bread crumbs," she said. "It works fantastically because the oats retain the moisture and have a binding effect just as bread crumbs would. And you get whole grain as well, without the flavor of whole grain."

As for meatloaf's comfort-food role, Krieger pointed to what she called "food memories."

"Certain foods tap into deep feelings inside us, and that's what gives them their 'comfort appeal,' " she said. "If you go with that, then it's clear that the times we have spent over meatloaf and mashed potatoes involved some of the more wonderful family dinners we've shared. There's still a sense you're being nurtured by the person cooking it."

To reduce fat and calories in mashed potatoes, Krieger advised using low-fat milk or buttermilk instead of butter. "Use Yukon gold potatoes for their natural creaminess," she said.