Looking for a meatless meal prep meal idea? Look no further than the humble Shepherd's Pie, revamped. Old School Shepherd's Pie was made up of ground beef, corn, and potatoes. Not bad, but not exactly the most nutritious of the dinner options. Instead of scrapping the whole idea, try enhancing the basics, and add or swap out any veggies or plant protein you see fit!
Ingredients:
Mushrooms
Carrots
Celery
Kale
Lentils
Potatoes
Tomato Paste
Tomato Sauce
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Directions:
First, prep the lentils and boil potatoes. For lentils: rinse and drain dried lentils, checking for little stones/debris. In a pan, add 3 cups water to 1 cup lentils. Bring to boil and boil for 18 min and drain excess liquid. Set the lentils aside.
While the lentils are boiling, bring a pot of water and potatoes to boil as well and boil the potatoes until fork tender, then drain out the water. Make mashed potatoes by peeling and dicing up the cooked potatoes, then mashing with almond milk, salt and pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
In a frying pan, sauté diced celery, mushrooms, carrots, and kale with some olive oil. Once the carrots are softened, drain excess liquid and add in 1/3 can tomato paste (hack: freeze the whole can of tomato paste, then open both ends, push the tomato paste frozen tube out and slice the section you need and refreeze the rest). Add 1 cup of tomato sauce in as well and mix together, adding in lentils.
Time to layer! In a casserole dish, add in the lentil/veg mix at the bottom. Spread the mashed potato mix on top and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. If the mashed potato layer on the top seems a bit dry, drizzle a little more almond milk on top and spread evenly.
Enjoy! This recipe can be made with sweet potatoes too and any milk product will suffice for the mashed potatoes. This recipe is vegan, gluten free, soy free, and dairy free! The kale, carrots, potatoes, and celery all came from Wilson Farm in Lexington, MA.