We were out at friends for dinner the other night, where they served a great lentil soup. I started thinking … I have lentils…. I have vegetables… I can make…
Vegan Shepherd’s Pie!
So, totally unrelated to the soup, except for the lentil thing, but here goes. And I was missing a couple of traditional ingredients, such as an onion or garlic, so I used dijon mustard and organic ketchup to season, as well as salt and pepper and a bay leaf.
Ingredients:
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms (or more…I used 4 giant mushrooms)
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup (green) lentils
1 tbs organic ketchup
1 tbs dijon mustard
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
75 g HotHuck’s dried veggie ground (but I’m sure another brand will do…)
1 salt
1 pepper
12 baby potatoes, boiled
2 tbs melt vegan buttery spread
How:
In a large pot, autée the carrots, celery and mushrooms in the tbs of olive oil. Add the ketchup and dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
Rinse the lentils and add to the pot, along with 3 cups of water and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.
NOTE: As the lentils cooked, I realized that somewhere I’d miscalculated and things were a bit too soupy. So I added the HotHuck’s dried veggie ground, to absorb some of the liquid. It worked!
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes. I left the skins on, because they’re so small and I figured I’d save time by not peeling them. Your choice.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Once the potatoes are cooked to the point where you can easily stick a fork in them, mash them with a ricer (or a fork). Add the Melt vegan buttery spread.
Put the lentil, mushroom, vegetable mix into a loaf pan, then cover with the mashed potatoes. Put a little bit of melt on the potatoes, then bake for about 20 minutes.
Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving. And — Enjoy!
I did a nutrition breakdown on this, using the verywellfit.com website. It clocks in at 334 calories per serving (I made 6 servings). Here’s a screen shot of the nutrition label: 
vegetarian moviemaker 