Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

My husband detests sweet potatoes. I like them. My kids will eat them, but I can't say they are huge fans. Admittedly, when I was younger, I didn't like them, either. They've grown on me as I've gotten older, very likely because of the plant based diet I consume. Since becoming a vegan, I've discovered so many new and different ways to use vegetables I had never done before, just always falling back on the tried and true, the usual, the known. I don't cook that way anymore. I love experimenting!

Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

One onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 t. cumin
1 t. turmeric
1 t. crushed red pepper
2 c. lentils
8 c. vegetable broth
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 t. cinnamon
12 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

Saute the onion, carrots, and celery using water or a little oil. Add the garlic and saute until everything is soft. Add the spices, lentils, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 45 minutes. Add spinach and lemon and cook until the spinach wilts.
While the lentils are cooking, add the potatoes and cinnamon to a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer while the lentils cook. When done, drain and mash.
In a large casserole dish, add the lentils mixture. Top with the mashed sweet potatoes, spreading over the entire mixture. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Serve. Enjoy!

A couple of notes. Let the dish sit for 10 minutes OUT  of the oven. It makes a difference. Also, I bought this awesome dicer from a thrift store and used it to cut the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. It cuts in uniform cubes and is just a lot of fun to use! Another thing I did was I discovered a potato ricer hidden in my cabinets. I suspect my dad gave it to me some time ago, but I had forgotten about it. It is super cool to use. You add the cooked potatoes and smash. The potatoes come out the numerous holes. I did it right over the casserole dish, and then just moved them around to cover. I'll try to take pictures of these items on a later post.

For the record, my husband still refused to eat it. But the kids and I liked it!

A Night of Poetry and Love

Today Scots celebrate Burns Night and the Welsh celebrate St. Dwynwen's Day. The first is all about poetry and the second is all about love.

Robert Burns was a poet and Scots celebrate his birthday by hosting Burns Night suppers and reciting his poetry. The traditional food served is haggis.

Vegan Haggis with Whiskey Sauce

1/2 cup steelcut oatmeal
2/3 cup lentils
One onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
1/4 t. ginger
1/8 t. cloves
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cayenne
1 T. soy sauce
One can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the oatmeal in a bowl and cover it with boiling water. Let it soak while you prepare the rest of the recipe. Add lentils to 4 c. boiling water and boil 20 minutes. When the lentils are soft, drain in a colander and set aside.
In a large pan, sauté the onion, celery, carrots and garlic in the olive oil until they are soft. Add the spices, the soy sauce, the lentils, the beans and the drained oatmeal. Stir to mix thoroughly and remove from heat.
Pour the mixture into a casserole dish and bake, uncovered, at 375 for 30 minutes.

Whiskey Sauce

1 c. whiskey
3/4 c. rice milk
1/4 c. agave syrup
Dash of salt and pepper

In a small saucepan, simmer the whiskey. Add the milk and agave, stirring and simmering until it thickens up a bit. Add your salt and pepper.

Tatties and Neeps

A giggleworthy name for mashed potatoes and turnips. Boil cut up potatoes and turnips while the haggis is baking. When soft, add vegan milk and butter and mash.

Scoop some of the tatties and neeps on your plate, top with the haggis and drizzle some of the whiskey sauce over the whole thing! Superb!

St. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers. It is the Welsh equivalent of Valentine's Day.

Red Hot Popcorn

One bag of microwave popcorn, popped
One bag of red hot cinnamon candies
1/2 c. vegan butter
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1 t. vanilla
dash of baking soda

Pop the popcorn and pour into a big bowl.
Mix the candies, butter and corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl and cook for two minutes. Stir, cook two minutes more. Mix in the vanilla and baking soda and mix well. Pour this (it's hot!) over the popcorn and stir, stir, stir until well coated. Let cool and eat.

Warning - it is addictive!