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Thursday, May 17

A Winter warmer for you to try

Slowly I have been increasing our vegetarian meals each week to where we now have three meat meals and three vegetable meals each week.  I really love eating more vegetarian meals and I feel like we have a more balanced diet now. It isn't always well received by everyone but I feel quite strongly about limiting our meat intake in light of recent health issues that my father is experiencing.  Then on Friday I take out of the freezer any leftovers we have and use those giving me the night off through the week and it also means we don't resort to takeaway.

So on Monday night I tried out a new recipe which was very tasty, my oldest also loved it and went back for seconds.  It's a good recipe for using up different vegetables you may have left in the crisper and it was also forgiving of the little altering I did too.  This recipe comes out of the book Martha Goes Green.
Sorta Shepherd's Pie
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 small carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 teaspoons thyme leaves, chopped
½ head of broccoli, cut into small florets
5 swiss brown mushrooms, diced
1½ cups cooked beans
1½ cooked brown lentils
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 glass red wine (approx. ½ cup)
1½ cups vegetable stock
5 medium potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
½ cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add onion, garlic and chilli flakes and cook until onion becomes translucent.  Add carrot, celery and thyme and cook for 5 minutes.  Add broccoli and mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Add beans, lentils, red wine, tomato paste and stock and stir through.  Season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered for a further 15-20 minutes until liquid has reduced and sauce has thickened.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Meanwhile place potatoes in a pot and just cover with cold salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes fall from a knife inserted in the centre.  Drain and mash with butter or margarine until smooth.

Pour bean mixture into a large casserole dish and top with mashed potato.  Sprinkle with cheese (if using) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy

16 comments:

  1. Hey Catherine, this dish looks and sounds delicious......perfect weather for this sort of food at the moment.

    I'm thinking of increasing our vegetarian meals too so am interested in what everyone is else is cooking...

    Thanks for popping over to visit me at Sweet Birdy Love, it was lovely to hear from you....

    CLaire :}

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  2. Yum, yum, yum. I'm giving this a go. Thanks Catherine :)

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  3. AnonymousMay 17, 2012

    Ooh yummy, this looks and sounds delicious! In any mince dish I do I am using less 'meat' and more lentils/vegetables...lasagne, bolognaise and shepards pie all still have the same fantastic taste without the expense :)
    x

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  4. Looks delicious Catherine...we lvoe lentils here and with this cold weather moving in i shall be giving this a try...thanks for sharing your recipe x

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  5. Sorta like your take on Shepard's pie, just a quick look in my crisper and I'm sure i could use up the piece sweet potato,carrots,broccoli 1/2 zucchini and 1/2 green pepper............that's saved me thinking of what to cook tonight ! Thanks
    I do hope your Dad's keeping well. X

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  6. Great title. Perfect winter warmer!

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  7. Love your "sorta shepard's pie", it does sounds really perfect for the cooler months again

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  8. I made a curry in the slow cooker last night using lentils and chick peas. It was so good coming home from work to smell it in the kitchen. The kids ate it without complaining which was a pleasant surprise. Makes me think we should try some new recipes like yours!

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  9. Our slow cooker has been on the go a lot of recent, lots of stews; curries ; soups & did make good old shepherd pie two nights ago & also added lots of legumes and veges. It's the weather for comfort food:) Nx

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  10. This looks delicious and tres healthy! X

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  11. You have gotta love anything that uses left over vegies from the crisper. xx Thanks for sharing

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  12. I make something very similar and we call it scarecrow's pie. For a Sheppard guards the sheep, but a scarecrow guards the vegies. We ate it for dinner tonight, it's such a good winter dish isn't it.

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  13. Great recipe, thanks Catherine. I do something similar with chickpeas instead of lentils and sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. I will give yours a try, I love using up what I have left in the fridge, a great way to be creative in the kitchen!

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  14. It looks delicious Catherine, perfect for this chillier weather. I wish I could join you for dinner in your house :) I would love to have more vegetarian dishes but Paul is a big meat lover. I've been trying to at least have one vegetarian meal each week though as a start x

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  15. Delicious. I make a similar vego shepherd's pie. So good during these colder months.

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