Vegan Shepherd's Pie!

We have gotten many requests from vege-vegan friends and fans for healthy and satisfying vegetarian fare. To demonstrate how you can alter any recipe to suit your dietary requirements, we chose a dish that is traditionally hearty, fattening, and very meaty - Shepherd's Pie. We set out to slash excess calories and fat, increasing protein and nutrients, and we ended up making it completely vegan! Read this scorecard:

• No dairy
• No meat
• No potatoes (WHAT?!)
• Per Serving: Calories: 350 Fat: 7g Protein: 44g

This is the best shepherd's pie I've ever had, not to mention the best vegan dish I've ever tasted. We thought it might work, but were amazed at how satisfying it tasted! The hardest thing about this meal is waiting for it to cool to a temperature lower than the surface of the sun, so you can start shoveling it in your face. Dig in!





* note: recipe edited to add missing instruction on 3/9/10
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large head cauliflower, broken into large florets
• about 1/4 cup rice milk (can use soy or almond milk too)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 - 12oz package Light Life Smart Ground original (or other vegan ground meat substitute)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 3 cups vegetable broth (we love Imagine-Organic No-Chicken Broth)
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 10 pearl onions, blanched and peeled
• 1 large carrot, halved and sliced
• 1 large celery stalk with leafy top, diced
• 7 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large portabello, diced finely
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 15 cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered if really large
• 1/2 cup wheat berries (essential!!!) or if you are gluten-free try short grain brown rice!
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small pan, combine 1 cup vegetable broth and 1/2 cup wheat berries. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until tender.
2. Steam cauliflower until very, very tender. Allow to cool slightly. Place in food processor or blender (or you can mash by hand if you're diligent enough), and whip. Add rice milk and continue to blend until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large fry pan. Add vegetables and saute until golden brown about 8 minutes.
4. Add mushrooms and 1 Tbsp olive oil, saute until mushrooms are reduced in size and browned, about 5 minutes.
5. Deglaze pan with red wine. (Add wine, scrape up browned bits as you bring mix to a boil).
6. Add chicken broth, tomato paste, cooked wheatberries and spices, heat through, stirring occasionally about 3 minutes.
7. Add (crumbled) meat substitute and peas and mix thoroughly.
8. Preheat the oven to 450'
9. You can use ANY size baking dish you'd like. We suggest the following: a square baking pan with 2" or higher sides or individual serving ramekins.
10. Add your stew to the baking dish (or divide among four). Top evenly with pureed cauliflower. Sprinkle with paprika.
11. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. (You can also broil until the crust is browned about 5-10 minutes)/

Easily serves 4, makes wonderful leftovers and can be doubled or tripled to serve more! Don't have cute little soup bowls like us? We bought ours here but you can use ANY serving dish, casserole dish, glass baking pan, etc...