Sterling moved to Chicago from Dallas in November of 2013. It snowed the day he got here, and continued to snow through the end of May. Yes, May. That January, we got down to -40º with the wind chill. Now, some of you tough guys may be thinking “that’s not thaaat bad” (which you are wrong), but we also lived next to the lake at the time…if you don’t know what lake effect cold is like, I am glad for you. That shit slices through your bones. So anyway, the day it hit negative 40, a pipe burst in our building, shutting off our hot water. Fortunately, my parents only lived about 30 minutes from us, so we drove to their house to shower, and returned home around 8 pm. Soon after settling on the couch, we noticed our vents were blowing out cold air. We called the building to find out that a second pipe had burst, subsequently eliminating our hot water AND heat. I remember we were standing in our bathroom with the door closed, in winter coats, blowing hot air on ourselves with my hair dryer. We got into bed (in full sweatsuits, with SOCKS, God help me), rolled ourselves into a 3 blanket burrito, said our potentially final “I love you’s” and prayed to see another day. Needless to say, we ended up making it through the night and lived to tell the tale. OH, I forgot to tell you the best part of the story….While this was all happening, we were on day 2 of a f*ckin JUICE CLEANSE!!!! So we’re over here cold, malnourished, and shaking, drinking kale and rationing off portions of raw, unsalted almonds- which I had to allow as a safety precaution. Lowkey I wanted to quit, but Sterling, the competitive D1 athlete that he is, decided we needed to finish the cleanse as a demonstration of “mental toughness.” Bless him. So anyway, we’ve had a VERY mild winter this year, especially compared to what we experienced a couple years ago, but it is still chilly and I do find myself craving a warm meal at night (followed always by froyo.. I cannot be tamed), and this one hit the spot. One of my favorite things to do is to find ways to take traditional meat-based recipes and create a vegetarian version that we can both eat. While no dish will ever taste like real meat, you can still create some really filling and satisfying meals that do taste amazing, and this vegan Shepherd’s Pie is one of them! Ingredients:
Filling: • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 medium onion (diced) • 2-3 cloves garlic (minced) • 1.5 cups uncooked brown or green lentils (rinsed and drained) • 1 cup celery (chopped) • 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes • 1 (10 oz) bag of frozen mixed veggies: peas, carrots, green beans, corn Note: Green beans and corn are not used in traditional Shepherd’s Pie. I actually only used these because my grocery store was out of solo frozen peas, so I just grabbed this bag. It does amp up the veggie content, which never bothers me, but feel free to omit of you want to stay more traditional. In that case, you’d use 2-3 chopped carrots and about a cup of peas. • 3 cups vegetable broth • 2 tsp dried thyme • 2-3 tsp paprika • 2-3 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp garlic powder • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper • Salt to taste Mashed Cauliflower and Potato Topping • 4 small yukon potatoes (peeled and quartered) • Half of a large head of cauliflower (cut into florets) • 2 tbsp vegan butter (I use Earth Balance) Note: you can obviously use regular butter if you want. I just wanted to keep the whole thing vegan. Note: no, I am not vegan actually • 1 tsp garlic powder • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper • Salt to taste Directions: • Heat oil in a large, non-stick skillet • Add onions and celery, and sauté until tender • Add canned tomatoes, lentils, veggie broth, thyme, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer until lentils are tender (about 20 minutes, give or take). If lentils are still firm, add more water or veggie broth in 1/4 cup increments until tender Note: DO NOT ADD SALT AT THIS STAGE. When added to raw lentils, salt actually makes them firm up. Add salt AFTER lentils have cooked • While lentils are cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add potatoes and cauliflower to a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 14 minutes. Drain and add to a large mixing bowl. Add butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and mash until smooth. • Once lentils have cooked, add your frozen veggies and mix to incorporate. Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until veggies are heated through • Add lentil mixture to a greased 9×13″ dish and spread the potato/cauliflower mixture over top. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until topping has slightly browned and mixture is bubbling Enjoy!
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Hi! I'm Shantal.
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