On his mission, Austin picked up a specific way of making shepherd's pie that included ground beef and onion, corn, mashed potatoes, cheese, and ketchup. Since he liked it so much, I quickly picked up the habit. The last time I made this was with his help, towards the end of my first trimester with my eldest son. This was immediately after a three-month whole foods vegetarian stint, and I found that I no longer appreciated the dish; it didn't help that I was still getting over my morning sickness.
Since then, I have tried a few vegan versions, but none stuck. Last night, Austin suggested that lentil shepherd's pie sounded appetizing to him. In my mind, this was easy enough, considering my experience with the dish. I didn't get out a recipe; I simply hit the kitchen. What I came up with knocked the socks off any other version I've tried thus far.
I originally wrote this post back in November, but hadn't taken photos and thought I would make it again and do so. I guess I'm too interested in trying new things! I have done "Shepherd's Pie" a handful of times since, but always differently than this, so I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway. Sorry!
Stovetop Lentil Shepherd's Pie:
8-10 red potatoes, cut into chunks
4-7 cloves garlic
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 cup lentils
2 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 bunch chard, chopped, leaves and stems divided
1 tbsp no-salt seasoning
1 tsp sage
1 tsp rosemary
4 cups frozen corn
Salt and pepper
Ketchup of choice, for serving*
Place the potatoes, garlic, and Old Bay seasoning in a pot and cover with water.
Place lentils, water, onion, carrot, chard stems, no-salt seasoning, sage, and rosemary in a separate pot.
Set both pots to boil at the same time. Once the lentils reach a boil, reduce to simmer. Once the potatoes reach a boil, reduce to medium heat. Cook each for 15-20 minutes, until the both the lentils and potatoes are cooked through. Mix the chard leaves into the lentils and cover with a lid. Drain most of the water from the potatoes into a mason jar (save excess for other recipes calling for veggie broth). Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, adding back liquid as needed, until the potatoes are the desired texture.
Thaw and heat the corn separately (I did this in a microwave). Layer all elements as desired. Salt and pepper to taste, and top with ketchup.
*My family uses an agave-sweetened brand found at a whole food store. Most recently, I bought an unsweetened version and sweetened it to taste with liquid stevia - as the agave ketchup had become unpleasantly sweet to me, self-sweetening the unsweetened ketchup is definitely to my liking.