Shepherd's Pie

This is something I'd never even tried until after I went vegetarian. I guess it's a common meat dish, sometimes called "Hamburger Pie". I'm surprised I never tried it because it seems like *exactly* the type of dish I would have loved as an omni. Not to mention super cheap and would have been great those times I had $8 for a whole week of groceries plus what was left in my pantry. Oh well, I'm over it. It's not like it's really healthy or anything so I wasn't missing out on much in all those years. This came from Living Among Meat-Eaters.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lentils
1 large yellow onion
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil for sauteing
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (marjoram, thyme, basil, ect)
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce OR 1 15 can of stewed tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper
4 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
paprika
nutritional yeast

Cook lentils until tender, drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350*. Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil until softened. Add herbs, tomatoes, soy sauce, and lentils. Salt and pepper to taste, stir. Spoon mixture into a lightly oiled baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes over top, drawing fork over the surface to make ridges. Sprinkle paprika and nutritional yeast flakes over top of potatoes. Bake 45 minutes.

The only thing I change about this recipe is that I increase the amount of veggies and use different ones sometimes. I added zucchini once, which was good, and my boyfriend requested cabbage the next time, so we'll see how that goes. I also omit the soy sauce. I find it plenty salty and flavorful enough without it. Other people may like it with the soy sauce though. Sometimes I put the nutritional yeast on it, sometimes not. If it's not your thing, just leave it off.

This is a good, hearty meal, but holy starch! Save it for a once in a while meal. ;-)