Skip to main content

Tasty Tuesday - Seitan Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

Last week I had posted pictures of a dinner Jason had made for me in a Thankful Thursday post. I know I am really lucky to have a husband who will cook, but even better, can cook really really well. He spent five years working in a French restaurant. Lucky me right? So, he definitely learned a lot. I typically do most of the cooking because he gets home later than I do, and I don't want to eat at 8 at night.

Sometimes, however, I get really burned out on cooking, trying to be creative, just spending time in the kitchen period. Last week I had one of those days. I had asked him for ideas and he tossed out a list of the ingredients we had. That sort of sent me over the edge. Yes, I knew we had those things in the fridge...thankyouverymuch.

Thankfully, he stepped up to the plate and took over. He was initially wanting a stroganoff. But ended up going a totally different direction with Shepherd's Pie. My only complaint is that he decides to get crazy creative when he gets home a little later. In other words, he starts something new that takes longer than expected, which adds up to a very hungry wife! But, at least I was well fed.

I had mentioned sharing this Shepherd's Pie recipe with you all, and I finally got him to write it down for me. Please note the newly named "fauxtatoes." He's proud of that one.

Seitan Mushroom Shepherd's Pie 
Ingredients: 
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 tbsp minced garlic, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, diced
1 portobello mushroom, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 package seitan (or homemade, tempeh or tofu would also work)
To taste: salt, pepper, red pepper, curry powder, thyme, rosemary, parsley
1 tbsp (approx) Tapioca powder 
16 oz no-salt vegetable broth
1 not-chicken bouillon cube
Cauliflower Mashed Fauxtatoes (see below)

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Saute onions, carrots, garlic with pepper and spices (except for the salt). Add in mushrooms and sear (for richer flavor).

Add in the seitan along with vegetable broth and bouillon cube. Allow to simmer and reduce for approximately 20 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften (al dente).

Add in the frozen peas.  Then stir in the tapioca flour to help thicken the mixture. Allow to simmer an additional 5 or until it's reached a thicker consistency.

Place the mixture into a glass baking dish. Top with the Cauliflower Mashed Fauxtatoes and sprinkle with breadcrumbs or panko (optional). Bake approximately 20 minutes, or until the fauxtatoes begin to brown then put on broil to finish browning (or you're just too hungry to wait any longer).

Cauliflower Mashed Fauxtatoes 
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
Almond milk - to desired consistency, but you want a slightly thicker mashed fauxtato
To taste: salt, pepper

Directions:
Steam cauliflower until tender - approximately 15 minutes.

Pour out the water and transfer the cauliflower to the hot pot to help cook out excess moisture.

Transfer to a food processor, adding in the nutritional yeast and seasonings and puree until smooth, adding in almond milk as needed.


This turned out fantastic. It was warm, comforting, and filling. I've only had Shepherd's Pie once before when we were visiting friends in Seattle. I've never attempted to make it myself, but have wanted to. So, I'm glad Jason went out on a limb and got creative.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Workout Wednesday - Body Blaster Tabata

Happy Hump Day! I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on yesterday's post: Be Kinder to Your Body. Calories are Not the Enemy . It sounds like it resonated with many of you. Today I wanted to share a new workout with you. I've been working on interval workouts for some of my clients. I try to give them the most bang for their buck (time). I know that in an ideal world, we would all have time to do longer workouts. There would never be scheduling conflicts, sick husbands or kids, or sick us. In reality, workouts need to be effective and efficient. And they don't have to be lengthy to be effective and efficient either. There's no need to spend hours in a gym to get in a good workout. Interval workouts like HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) or tabata, or even interval running are great ways to get in a fantastic workout in a short amount of time and have many benefits. You can read more about Tabata workouts  here . The benefits of this type of work

Piriformis Update & Grilled Veggie Salad

New Piriformis Exercises Today wasn't too terrible for a Monday. Of course, I did leave a little early. That always helps huh ;-) I had another round of physical therapy today. My PT has been really researching piriformis syndrome and found an interesting article that discusses the use of McKenzie Exercises - typically used for back pain. I have started adding in low back extensions (one of the exercises) but now have a whole new list of exercises to add into my workout rotations. But, if it helps, I'll do it. I also asked her about dry needling (thanks Sarena ), which is sort of similar to acupuncture, but is more about trigger point and intramuscular stimulation. And I'm glad I asked because the timing is uncanny. One of the doctor's in the clinic happens to be going to get certified this weekend. They both believe that I am a prime candidate for the procedure. So we'll see how that goes. Kind of scared because I hate hate hate needles. Have any of you tr