Vegan Shepard's Pie (3 stars)

For dinner tonight we made a shepard's pie. This was kind of an impromptu, what the hell are we going to eat, kind of dinner since I screwed up the timing on what we were supposed to have (more on that tomorrow). Neither of us was up to cooking anything complicated so we settled on this recipe for shepard's pie. It was better than expected, and despite the fact that neither of us is particularly fond of parsnips, the parsnip was actually quite good in this. We had a nice big salad along with it. The recipe has some errors and I made some tweaks, so I will repost it here with the changes.



Shepard's Pie
4-5 peeled, cubed yukon gold or red potatoes
4 peeled garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs vegan margarine
1/2 cup soy milk or more as needed

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1 large parsnip, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
12 oz veggie ground round crumbles (Yves or Light Life)
1 cup potato water
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup frozen green peas
salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Directions:

Prepare mashed potatoes: Cover potatoes with water and add garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 min until potatoes are tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup of stock. Mash potatoes with soy milk and margarine. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add onions, carrots, and parsnips and saute for 5 minutes (or more, until the carrots and parsnips are starting to look cooked).

Add garlic and thyme saute for 2-3 minutes. Add veggie ground crumbles, potato water, soy sauce and cornstarch mixture. Simmer and stir constantly for 2 minutes until sauce thickens.

Add the peas, salt, and pepper, then transfer to a lightly oiled 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

Spoon mashed potatoes on top, drizzle with some more olive oil if desired (I left this out) and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for about 20 minutes until top is golden.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 45 minutes