Shepard's Pie of a Different Color

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Hope you're enjoying this festive holiday, I know I am enjoying the food! This Shepard's pie is a very comforting and savory dish with a touch of sweetness from the caramelized vegetables and Worcestershire sauce. You can easily make this recipe vegetarian or even vegan by using crumbled veggie burgers or these Morningstar crumblesFor those of you who have never tried a purple potato, they have a minimal starchy texture, thin skin, and pretty much taste like a regular potato in every way. One significant difference between them is the antioxidant content; purple potatoes contain 4 times as much antioxidants as Russet potatoes. Anthocyanin is a pigment that creates the purple color in the potatoes and also acts as an antioxidant. And you thought antioxidants were just in green tea! You can pick these up at any Publix or Whole Foods.




Shepard's Pie of a Different Color

3-4 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
1 large onion
1 large turnip root
2 stalks celery (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
5 large potatoes (or one bag of small purple potatoes)
1 bag of Morningstar Vegetarian Crumbles (or 1 package of beef)
1 TBS olive oil
1 1/2 cups of potato water
1 tsp minced garlic
2 TBS dried parsley
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 TBS butter
1/2 sour cream
1/2 milk
4 TBS Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2.Cover potatoes (about 2 inches) with water and boil until tender (around 15-20 min.) meanwhile, heat oil on medium high heat in saucepan and add carrots, parsnips, celery, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for about 8 min. until you see little brown bits.

3.Add the potato water to the vegetables (potato water is best because the starch acts as a thickener) and deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape off all the crispy, flavorful bits. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 8min.

4.Add Worcestershire sauce, parsley, and 1 TBS of butter. Drain the cooked potatoes and mash with 2 TBS butter, sour cream, milk and salt and pepper to taste.





5.Spoon vegetable mix (it might be a little watery but make sure you add ALL the juice) in a 9 X 9 inch pan then spread mashed potatoes on top, sprinkle with cheese (if using) and bake for 20-30 minuets.