Vegan Shepherd's Pie

I whipped this up to take to vegan friends of ours who just had a baby. With the weather getting colder I figured it would be a good comfort meal for now or they can freeze it for later. I'm kinda sad I don't get to eat it! But I tasted the components and they are good. I basically just used my regular shepherd's pie recipe with lentils instead of ground beef, and swapped out some other things.

Other things you could add: sauteed mushrooms, other vegetables cut into small pieces, some cooked quinoa for added bulk/protein/texture (you could cook it along with the lentils also). This made one 8x8 pan; for a 9x13 pan I would cook maybe 1 1/2 cups of lentils and more potatoes. Amounts are very forgiving - that's the great thing about shepherd's pie!

- 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 Tbl tomato paste
- 3 tsp flour
- 1 cup (approx) veggie broth
- 1 Tbl soy sauce
- frozen peas
- 5 medium potatoes (I like yukon gold), or fewer larger ones
- non-dairy milk of choice
- garlic powder
- 1 green onion, chopped

Boil the lentils in a few cups of water with bay leaves for about 20 minutes, until soft. Add some salt about halfway through (the lentils should be well-seasoned). Drain and remove bay leaves.

Meanwhile, saute onion & carrot in olive oil until carrot is just tender. Add garlic, spices, salt & pepper and cook for about a minute. Add tomato paste, stirring for a few seconds, then mix in flour. Add veggie broth slowly until you get a gravy-like consistency. Add lentils to mixture, and more broth if necessary. Add frozen peas (maybe half a small bag) and simmer for a few minutes. Add soy sauce and taste for seasoning (I added a fair amount of salt).

Wash & quarter the potatoes (I leave the skins on, but peel if you want). Boil in salted water until just tender. Drain and mash with "milk," a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic powder. Mix in green onion.

Put the lentil mixture in an 8x8 square pan. Spoon mashed potatoes on top and spread to the edges. Draw a fork through potatoes to create wavy lines, and sprinkle top with paprika.

At this point you can refrigerate the pie for a day or two before baking, or freeze it (thaw in fridge before baking). Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbling. Run under the broiler for a couple minutes to slightly brown the top. Let sit about 10 minutes before scooping & serving.

The prebaked pie...looks like ground beef, eh?