While the loaf bakes, I shape the rest of the mixture into patties, cook them off in a skillet, and let them cool. Then they either sit in the fridge for later this week or go into the freezer for future me — a guy I've grown very fond of, mostly for how often he remembers to do things like this.
Round two is the burger. Air fryer if it's just me and lunch. Grill if people show up and I want to look like I planned a whole backyard thing on purpose. Cheese goes on at the end — cheddar or provolone — then the slaw goes on top: cabbage, reserved glaze, mayo, dill. Cold and crunchy and sweet-tangy, right on a hot burger.
Cabbage lasts forever, which is exactly why I always buy too much of it and then act shocked when I find it again. If there's still some left after the slaw, that's not leftover guilt, that's a prompt I make a Savory Japanese Pancake, Caramelized Cabbage & Sausage Pasta, or a crunchy salad and call it lunch.
That's what I like about this one. It starts as meatloaf, but it doesn't stop there. It turns into a burger. It turns into lunch. It turns into something in the freezer that saves me on a night I haven't had yet.
One bulk pack of beef. One head of cabbage. Two dinners, with a few exits built in.
What's the thing you always buy too much of and then have to race the clock to use? And if meatloaf has always been a cold-weather food in your head, I'd genuinely like to hear the case for that. Reply and tell me. I'm building a list.
