I love a good meatloaf. I grew up with bland but passable meatloaf that I loved because my dad made it and it meant that I could eat instant mashed potatoes as a side dish.   I served this as leftovers with other remainders, in this case, scalloped cauliflower and mashed sweet potatoes.

Paleo Meatloaf (Dinner) Serves 4

• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 4 cups boiling water
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fennel seed, ground
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper, ground
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil (if no fresh basil)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed meal
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1.5-2 lbs ground meat (beef, veal, pork, sausage, etc.)
• 1-1/2 tbsp chopped onion (optional)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup mustard
• 1-1/2 tbsp honey (or 1/4 tsp liquid stevia)

1. Boil raw cashews for approximately 15 minutes, until soft. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until translucent, ~ 10 minutes.
4. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.
5. Add next 5 spices, stir and heat 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
6. Place cashews, eggs, basil, flax seed meal, and onion mix in food processor and mix until a paste, scraping sides as needed.
7. Mix with meat in a large bowl. Place in loaf pan.
8. Mix onions, ketchup, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Spread over meatloaf.
9. Bake 1 hour.

Oh my god, mmmm.  It is adapted from the meatball recipe from Anerica’s Test Kitchen’s Paleo Perfected and I cannot wait to try those now.  They solved my no breadcrumb issue. Raw cashews. Never would have occurred to me. Genius. DO NOT USE ROASTED CASHEWS. Really I think this is the best Paleo cookbook I have seen yet.

I added the sauce on top, flax seed meal, fennel seed (to pretend I had mixed sausage into the mix…I only had beef) and an extra egg, I do not remember what else. I think I would like to add wilted baby spinach next time.

I used whole grain garlic mustard that I bought on clearance because the bottle was dirty and wildflower honey that was on sale due to overstock. You, too, can have nice things on a budget.

Finally, if you are not Paleo, but are nut-free, you can use breadcrumbs instead of the cashews, which is technically a seed not a nut, but you cannot dictate your allergies and people are often allergic to nuts and cashews (seed) and peanuts (legume). Crazy.