Recipe – Popeye Meatloaf

Liver truly is a superfood.

Although many people spread the fear that liver is a detoxification organ and therefore is full of toxin, it’s not the case at all. First, it is true that liver helps our body metabolize many substances but it acts as a filter. It doesn’t store these toxins. Secondly, knowing where your food comes from can also give you some extra piece of mind in addition to guaranteeing you a higher nutritional content. I would never eat liver straight from the grocery store and only eat liver from healthy, pastured animals that were fed the right way and raised without hormones, antibiotics and chemicals.

Popeye meatloaf: guess what sneaky ingredients is hiding in it? 😉

Why should you eat liver?

Because it’s Mother Nature’s multivitamin! It’s not only rich in iron, but also in other minerals like zinc, copper and selenium. And that’s not all, liver also contain many vitamins, including vitamin A, D, E and many of the B vitamins (especially folate, vitamin B12, B1, B2, B3 and B5 in addition to choline). Eating a weekly serving (or 2) of liver can help you guarantee that you cover all of your dietary requirements.

Pregnant women can highly benefit from liver because many of these nutrients are especially important when you’re building a miniature human being. In many hunter-gatherer tribes, it was completely normal to keep liver for women during the perinatal period (before and during pregnancy).  Why aren’t we doing this anymore?

I couldn’t really handle the thought of liver during my first trimester but have just started eating it again at the beginning of my second trimester. The particular texture and taste of liver can be hard to accept for some. If you’re one of these people, this recipe is perfect for you! The texture of this meatloaf is very pleasant and only a pregnant woman could perhaps smell/taste that there’s some liver in there. 😉 And with all the other delicious ingredients, it’s really easy to get this superfood into your tummy.

Popeye Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
4 cups (1 L) of organic spinach (organic is best because spinach is heavily contaminated with pesticides residues)
8 slices of bacon (the best quality you can find)
all the bacon fat yielded from cooking your bacon
1 lb (454 g) of grass-fed ground beef (or bison)
1 lb (454 g) of grass-fed beef (or bison) liver
2 medium pastured eggs
unrefined salt, black pepper and seasonings to taste (I used organic herbes de Provence)

Making this Popeye meatloaf is quick and easy!

Preparation:

1. Start by baking your 8 slices of bacon. Once cooked, put aside to cool down and chop into pieces.
2. Meanwhile, chop the liver into big pieces and put it in a blender. Add about half of the bacon fat you obtained from cooking your bacon to the blender. Blend until homogeneous.
3. Use the other half of the bacon fat as a cooking fat for the onions and spinach. Cook until completely cooked, stirring as needed.
4. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients until you obtain an homogeneous mixture.
5. Transfer your meatloaf mixture to a baking dish.
6. Bake at 350°F for about 25-30 minutes until cooked.
7. Enjoy with a tomato sauce if desired.

Variations:

• Make it low-FODMAP by omitting the onions. You can use gluten-free asafoetida powder to give a bit more punch while keeping your tummy happy. All the other ingredients are low-FODMAP.

Popeye meatloaf right out of the oven

Do you eat liver? How do you prepare it?