Ridiculously Easy Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

By Sari Huhtala

You know you’re onto something when your own mother says “This tastes better than my shepherd’s pie.” This means something coming from a woman who has a lifetime of experience making hearty home-cooked European meals made with meat, potatoes and veggies. Imagine that? And not only is there no meat in there, you can whip it up in a minimal amount of time and fuss for a fraction of the cost of making a conventional shepherds pie with ground beef. This recipe is incredibly easy. Teach it to your son or daughter who is heading off to college this year, or send them off with a load of single-portion frozen meals for a go-to dinner.

Vegan shepherds pie

• 1 540-ml can of mixed bean medley – chick peas, kidney beans, romano beans and black beans are a nice combo (or cook your own from dried beans) or just use white pea beans or white northern beans
• 4 potatoes (or, jazz it up by blending 1 large potato, 1 sweet potato, and 1 cup of rutabaga, turnip or squash)
• 1 can of organic non-GMO corn (or 1/2 cup of cooked diced cooked carrots and 1/2 cup cooked peas)
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• A few tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and seasonings of choice (garlic powder, sage, onion powder, paprika, thyme, parsley)*
• Optional health booster: nutritional 1/4 cup yeast

*Do not use store-bought shepherd’s pie seasoning made with chemicals, caramel colour and other nasties. Peel and cut potatoes, or other veggies, into chunks and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, chop onion and minced garlic. Drizzle oil in a pan and sauté onion and garlic till transparent. Mash the beans with a potato masher until no chunks remain. Stir into pan with onions. Add seasonings and blend well, and leave to simmer on low for about five minutes. Boil potatoes till soft, drain, leaving a bit of extra water from the boiled potatoes to mash them with. Mash potatoes, adding 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast if desired, for an added health boost. Spread the bean mixture in a lightly oiled baking dish. Top with corn, or choice of veggies. Spread mashed potatoes on top. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with nutritional yeast, if desired. Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.