Bison & Vegetable Meatloaf

Shared by Lauranne Bailey

I’m one of these people, later in life, who has discovered removing gluten, dairy, and sometimes eggs from my diet has helped me greatly in my love for food. (The dairy-free is a killer for a gal raised in Wisconsin.) Which means I eat a lot more vegetables. This past fall, looking at what my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box brought me at end of season, I was wondering if I could somehow combine all these veggies with bison.

I came up with this magical recipe that my husband and I are like, hungh? How did this get to be so good? It’s about a 50/50 ratio roasted veggies to bison. I bake my mini loaves, freeze them and have a treat every time I pull one back out of the freezer for a quick dinner meal. I’ve included my gluten/dairy free cornbread, too, that I use for the ‘bread’ filler.

Thanks again, for all you do.

Ingredients

• 2 – Carrots
• ½ – Medium rutabaga
• ½ – Burdock root
• 1 – Turnip
• ½ – Celeriac
• ½ – Large onion
• 3 – Cloves garlic, pressed
• ½ C – Cornbread Crumbs (gluten-free, egg-free)
• ½ C – Applesauce (sweetened with honey, not refined sugar, if possible)
• 3 T – Dried Parsley
• 1 tsp – Dried Thyme
• 1 tsp – Dried Rosemary
• ½ tsp – Salt
• ¼ tsp – Pepper
• 2 lb – Wild Idea Ground Buffalo
• ½ C – Sugar-free Ketchup (for topping)
• 2 ½ C unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• 2 T apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ½ C coconut oil (or olive or vegetable oil)
• 8 T maple syrup *(or sub any other sweetener)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 C yellow or white cornmeal
• 1 C blue cornmeal
• 1 ½ C gluten-free flour blend (or plain flour if not gluten-free)
• 6 tsp baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ½ tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Cut root vegetables into chunks, toss with avocado oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into ¼ to ½ in chunks.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
4. In a large bowl, combine and mix all ingredients (except Bison and Ketchup). Add Bison and knead the mixture with your hands until everything is well blended. Fill the loaf pans with the vegetable and meat mixture. Spread the ketchup over the top with brush to fully cover.
5. Place the loaf pans on a baking sheet and bake until the meat loaf is firm to the touch. About 50-70 minutes. A thermometer inserted in the center should read 160F.
6. If needed, pour off the excess fat and let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.
7. You can remove the loafs from the pans (after allowing to cool) and freeze in tinfoil. (If you do this while still warm, the loaf may not stick together.)
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
9. Measure out the milk and stir in the vinegar - set aside for at least 5 minutes to leave it to curdle
10. Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
11. Add the maple syrup, salt and cornmeal
12. Sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda
13. Add the milk and vinegar mixture and mix well, adding some extra milk or water if too dry - the batter is much runnier than traditional cornbread batter, so don't worry if your batter looks runnier than expected, it will be fine when baked!
14. Transfer the mixture to a square stoneware (9-in) baking pan. If you use a metal pan, line with greased parchment paper
15. Bake in the oven for around 30-40 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean
16. Leave to cool slightly before cutting
17. Keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days, and freezes well too - delicious reheated in the toaster oven