SS: Cheesy Mexican Meatloaf

I'm just going to come right out and announce that I make an amazing meatloaf. I have a written recipe that is freaking awesome but, more often than not, I ditch the recipe and instead throw some shit together and it always turns out delicious. When I do that I almost always take the BBQ route, but I am not opposed to switching it up - hence the reason I chose this recipe for my next meatloaf night.

Now, the name Mexican meatloaf is really kind of a turnoff for me. I love Mexican food and I love meatloaf...but together? I was skeptical, but what the hell. Life's short. Let's fuck up a pound of beef.

This is pretty easy. In standard meatloaf form, you throw a bunch of shit together and press it into a loaf pan. I actually never use a loaf pan though. I usually scoop the meat into a muffin tin and make individual meatloaves. I do this for two reasons: portion control and it takes about 20-25 minutes to cook through as opposed to over an hour. I have zero patience, especially when I'm hungry...though I'm sure most of you know that already...

Really the only problem I had with this recipe was what the hell to pair it with. Do I make rice? Mashed potatoes? What the hell goes with Mexican meatloaf??? After about fifteen minutes of asking Calvin and fifteen minutes of hearing his three year old voice tell me he really doesn't care, I gave up, said fuck it, and cut up some damn strawberries. There. Side done.

A nice, cheesy aerial view for ya'll

I tried to get a good side view of the layers of meat and cheese. Tried.

The verdict: This wasn't bad at all. I did put ketchup on mine because I think that ketchup makes every kind of meatloaf taste better, but Andrew ate his rather quickly and Calvin only kind of complained. Success. 

Cheesy Mexican Meatloaf

I don't really want to type out the nutrition info, but it's got 357 calories for 1 slice. Slice the damn loaf into 6 slices. 

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1 - 7 oz. can fiesta corn, drained - I used frozen cause I didn't have this

1 - 4.5 oz. can chopped green chilies - undrained

1 - 1 oz. packet low sodium taco seasoning

2 egg whites, beaten - yeah I did not beat those two little egg whites, sorry

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs 

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese 

1/2 cup medium tomato salsa  - I used what I had. 

1 tbs. brown sugar

12 medium tomato, diced

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) In a bowl, combine the beef, beans, corn, green chilies taco seasoning, egg whites and bread crumbs. Mix it all together.

3) Place half the beef mixture in the bottom of your loaf pan. Spread 1/2 cup cheese on top. Top that with the other half of your beef mixture. Bake for 1 hour.

4) In the meantime, mix together your salsa and brown sugar. Once the meatloaf has baked for one hour, spread the salsa mix on top and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of that. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

5) Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before cutting. 

6) Garnish with the tomatoes and jalapenos. I did not do this because I was giving it to my kids, but I'm sure the extra kick would have been legit.