Meatloaf might be too heavy a dish for summer.
Meatballs can always be put to use.
Here's a second recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011) by Tessa Kiros.
Yuvarlakia-Dilled Meatballs Recipe:
Serves 5 or 6
14 ounces ground beef
14 ounces ground pork
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup medium-grain rice
½ teaspoon ground allspice
5 tablespoons coarsely chopped dill
5 tablespoons coarsely chopped italian parsley
1 large red onion, grated on the large holes of a grater
2 tablespoons olive oil
5¼ ounces milk salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons each chopped dill and parsley stalks
²⁄³ cup shelled peas (about 10½ ounces unshelled)
2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley, extra
1 tablespoon chopped dill, extra
2 eggs
juice of 2 lemons
This is a lovely dilly brothy dish to be eaten with a spoon. I use a large cast-iron pot, but a high-sided nonstick pan is good, too. I love this with some peas, but the traditional way is without.
Mix the beef, pork, egg, rice, allspice, dill, parsley, onion, olive oil and milk in a nice big bowl and add pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead very well. Break off pieces of about 1½ ounces, and roll them into compact balls.
Heat a large pot and add the meatballs in 2 batches with no oil. Put the lid on and cook on high heat until the color of the meatballs changes and they firm up enough for you to turn them. When their undersides are lightly golden, turn them. Cook until golden all over, then transfer to a plate. Do the next batch, add all back to the pot and cook until golden. Add 6 cups of water, about ½ teaspoon of salt and a little pepper, and the dill and parsley stalks. Cover and simmer gently for about 50 minutes. The meatballs will look like hedgehogs and that’s the way they are, but if you boil them too hard, they might break up. Add the peas and simmer until tender but still green, about 10 minutes; it must be nice and brothy ( you will still be adding the egg and lemon sauce ), so add a little more hot water as you think necessary. Add the extra parsley and dill, then turn off the heat.
Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt. Add a ladleful of the meatball broth, whisk in to acclimatize, then add another ladleful. Pour it back into the pot and gently stir with a wooden spoon. Leave for a minute or two for the sauce to thicken a bit, holding the pot and shuffling. Taste for salt. Serve warm, with a good grind of pepper.
(* Dilled meatballs recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens reproduced courtesy of Andrews McMeel Publishing, photography by Manos Chatzikonstantis)