Lentil Vegetable Shepard's Pie. Vegan. GF.

This post was slated for earlier in the week but somehow it got bumped by other posts. I was excited to share this recipe because not only is it totally customizable – it was so easy and can be prepped a day ahead of time and then baked/broiled prior to serving making it a great weeknight meal. I haven’t made Shepard’s Pie in years. Plus I was able to make vegan versions for us and carnivore versions for the rest of my family. Okay now onto it…

Ingredients:

1 can of cooked lentils (I said this version was fast and easy) organic and BPA free lining -rinsed
Vegetable broth
1/4 of a yellow onion, diced finely
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Cherry tomatoes – I had blistered them in the oven prior to but you can use fresh ones halved added right to the pan to cook down.
1 handful of baby spinach or kale
1/4 cup of frozen organic peas – I used Cascadian Farm
1/4 cup of frozen organic corn – again Cascadian Farm
Mashed potatoes – You can use as much or as little as you like for covering the mixture. You can half my recipe that is linked or you can use leftovers.

Directions:

This makes 4 ramekins.

In a saute pan and add about 1/4 cup or so of veggie broth. Get that nice and hot and add you rinsed lentils. Then add your tomatoes, onions, greens and garlic. Cook for a few minutes then add your spices/Worcestershire and give a good stir. Cook until the greens wilt and the tomatoes soften.

Then layer the bottom of your ramekin with the lentil mixture equally in all 4 ramekins. Then top with your frozen corn and peas.

I had 3 potatoes I needed to use up so I whipped up a quick olive oil mashed potato. Link to the recipe in the ingredient list above.

Then spoon the potatoes atop of each mixture. Again, this is a very flexible recipe so you can add more or less of the potatoes. One of my kids dislikes the potato so she got less. The other loves them… she got more.

Then you can either refrigerate covered until you need them. Reheat: preheat your oven to 350 and place each ramekin on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Then broil – watching closely – until the tops look nicely browned.

If you are serving right away, place the ramekins on a baking sheet and turn your broiler on. Place the sheet in the oven and broil until the top looks nicely browned.

You can serve with gluten free bread and some yummy olives. Enjoy!

This post was originally written for Monday. Sunday I ran 8 miles in shorts. The rest of the week has been subjected to plummeting temperatures. Today’s morning temp was 7! Fun times. This was the gym pic on Monday. Resolutioners, is that a word?, abound! Still got my workout in and was quite thankful.

Sunday: 8 miles outdoors
Monday: 4 miles/weights/core
Tuesday: 5 treadmill miles (snow)
Wednesday: 4 treadmill miles (snow/ice) and weights/core/balance
Thursday — REST day!