On the Table: Vegetari-Thai-ish Shepherd's Pie

Last night I had some potatoes that were looking at me funny (get it?  they had eyes?), so I figured I needed to hurry up and use them.  Their brethren had been roasted and made into potato salad a few days earlier, so I figured that this bunch could be turned into mashed potatoes.  Clearly, mashed potatoes do not comprise a complete meal, so I needed to figure out something else to go with them.  I decided to use them for shepherd's pie. 

Seeing as how I did not have any meat ready to cook (it's all frozen!), I decided to go with a vegetarian version.  And, seeing as how I can rarely leave well enough alone, I decided to throw in a little Thai flair, with fish sauce and sriracha.  At a few points along the way, I was a little afraid that this was going to be a disaster, but the results were pretty fantastic! 

To prepare:

Make four Yukon Gold potatoes worth of mashed potatoes.

Cut them up (I like to leave the skin on), put them in a pot, cover them with cold water and some salt, and put them on to simmer until they are cooked through and tender enough to mash.

Drain them in a collander, then put them back in the pot and mash them up with butter (about 3 tablespoons), milk (I didn't measure - enough to get them to the texture you want), and salt (to taste).  While you are working on the mashed potatoes (especially while they are cooking), you can work on the filling.

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with canola oil, put the pan over medium heat, and add into the pan a pound of frozen mixed vegetables.  As the vegetables defrost, they will release liquid and steam a bit.

When the vegetables are defrosted, add into the pan 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of sriracha, 1 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 cup of blanched slivered almonds, a dash of ground ginger, and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Stir well to combine, and cook for a few minutes.

When the filling is cooked through, pour it into a pie plate (yes, I realize shepherd's pie is not actually a pie).

Cover the filling with the mashed potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the pie into the preheated oven and cook until the top is browned.  If you had made the components earlier, you would also need to make sure the whole thing is heated through.  I let it go for about 20 minutes at 350, then cranked the temp up to 450 for 10 minutes, since I had put it together while the components were still hot, and I really just wanted the browning on top.

Yum!  Now, I'm not a nutritionist, but I would say this is a pretty well balanced meal - you've got vegetables, protein from the nuts, carbs, dairy...not too shabby!

Enjoy!