Today: Meat Loaf -- Herbed Meat Loaf With Sun-Dried Tomato Gravy

Recipes on this page were developed or tested by The Cooking Light Magazine test kitchen.

Herbed Meat Loaf with Sun-Dried Tomato Gravy

8 servings

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil (about 24)

3 cups boiling water

Vegetable cooking spray

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (1-ounce) slice whole-wheat bread, torn into small pieces

2 tablespoons 1 percent low-fat milk

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 egg whites

1 3/4 pounds extra-lean ground beef

1. Combine dried tomatoes and boiling water in a bowl; cover and let stand 15 minutes or until softened. Drain well, and chop finely; set aside.

2. Coat a medium nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Set aside.

3. Place bread in a large bowl. Drizzle milk over bread; toss well to moisten bread. Add tomatoes, onion mixture, cheese, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, thyme and egg whites; stir well. Crumble beef over tomato mixture, and stir just until blended.

4. Pack mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 60 minutes or until meat loaf registers 160 degrees. Let meat loaf stand in pan 10 minutes.

5. Remove meat loaf from pan, and reserve drippings for Sun-dried Tomato Gravy, if desired. Cut loaf into 16 slices. Serve with Sun-dried Tomato Gravy.

Sandwich suggestion: Serve leftover meat loaf slices open-faced on toasted sandwich bread; top with gravy.

Data per serving with 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomato gravy (36 percent calories from fat) Calories 230 Protein 25g Fat 9g Carbohydrates 15g Sodium 752mg Saturated fat 4g Monounsaturated fat 4g Polyunsaturated fat 1g Cholesterol 71mg