Upside-Down Lentil Shepherd's Pie

I'm not sure exactly what led me to make this shepherd's pie. I've actually never really cared for that dish before. I think that maybe I've just never had a good one. Shepherd's pie usually brings to mind overcooked vegetables topped with flavorless, gummy mashed potatoes. Even when presented with a recipe for a shepherd's pie, I'll typically pass in favor of just about anything else. Associations are hard to break sometimes, I guess.

Whatever possessed me to want to try the Upside-Down Lentil Shepherd's Pie in Appetite for Reduction, I'm glad for it. My mind has been forever changed. It's funny, too, presenting this as "upside-down" somehow makes my brain think it's less work than the other way. Really, I think it's pretty much the same amount, you're just not layering until you're ready to serve it. There's where the end of the overcooked veggies comes in, too.

This dish is full of so many good things: lentils, shitake mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, celery, peas, Caulipots. Oh, Caulipots. OMG, Caulipots. Seriously, Caulipots are like a revelation. It's pretty much just half and half cauliflower and potatoes mashed up together with a little bit of olive oil and vegetable broth mixed in. Much less fat than regular mashed potatoes and a truckload more flavor. I swear I could sit down and eat an entire bowl of Caulipots just by themselves.

I didn't feel like searching the city for du Puy lentils, so I just used plain old green lentils for this. I also added some beet greens because I had some that needed using and adding a few extra greens to a dish never hurt. You can conceivably make this using just two pots. One for the Caulipots and one for the lentils and veggies. Easy cleanup and easy to make. It's pretty quick, too. You could make this after work one night if you have everything on hand already. Who wouldn't like coming home to a nice meal like this, anyway? The thyme and tarragon simmering away with the veggies and lentils gives off such a wonderful aroma. That'll put you in a good mood if you weren't before.

This recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce. I definitely think it adds a nice bit of flavor to this dish. If you're having trouble finding a vegan brand, check the ingredients on the store brands. I was surprised to find that some of the local chain grocery stores around here have a vegan store brand Worcestershire sauce. That's kind of cool. If you can't find any or don't want to spend the money on something you might not use again, (what- you're not making a bloody mary for weekend brunches?) you can just use a bit of soy sauce and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar instead.

This is definitely a keeper recipe. I will for sure be making this again. It reheated really well and was a great leftover dish to take to work for the week. Your tummy will thank you.

Vegetable Lasagna with Cauliflower Ricotta

Anytime I tell James I'll make anything he wants for dinner, his response is almost always lasagna. It's one of those great dishes that can hide so many veggies and usually makes leftovers for at least a couple days. I don't know why I don't make it more often. It's not really all that time consuming and it's definitely not hard.

The beauty of a lasagna is that you can make it however you want. I usually throw in whatever vegetables I have in the fridge that need to be used up. It's never turned out bad no matter what I put in there, either. My usual lasagna recipe is a culmination of different things. One thing that I think makes it really stand out is that I always make my own sauce. It not only tastes better than store-bought, it's really simple and easy to make.

I also typically use Isa's recipe for tofu ricotta from Vegan with a Vengeance. I've tried other ways to make the "cheese" part of the lasagna, but that one is always a winner. That's why I was really excited to try the cauliflower ricotta recipe in Appetite for Reduction. I'm in love with caulipots, and I've recently discovered pureed cauliflower to be an excellent secret ingredient in creamy sauces and soups. Why wouldn't cauliflower also be awesome in lasagna?! It's like I'm discovering the wonders of the cashew all over again or something.

I decided to make the lasagna pretty much exactly like the recipe in the book. I'm loving everything in Appetite for Reduction so far so I figured it couldn't hurt to change up my usual methods a bit since I was already changing up the ricotta. One note if you're doing the same - I was using dried thyme in the red sauce, not fresh and since I was trying to multi-task a bit too much while I was cooking, I added 2 tablespoons of dried thyme. Yikes. If you're using dried, maybe go for 2 teaspoons. Fresh is always better if you can get it, though. I just forgot to pick up some thyme when I was at the market.

All in all, I think this recipe was great! I will definitely be using the cauliflower ricotta recipe again. You pretty much just roast some cauliflower then mash it together with some tofu and nutritional yeast and a few other things and wham! you have cauliflower ricotta. I think it would also be good to add in some fresh basil leaves like the VwaV recipe. I always love fresh basil in pasta dishes; it adds such a wonderfully fresh flavor.

I added some zucchini, carrots and shitake mushrooms to the spinach as well. Again, you can really add whatever veggies you want, I'm sure it'll be fantastic. Though I'd be unsure how peas would go in lasagna. It would probably still be good, but maybe a little unexpected, I guess. I also added some sliced garlic-stuffed olives to the top since I couldn't be bothered to pit any kalamata olives that day. It was a really nice addition, actually.

One more thing: At our house, no lasagna is complete without some capers sprinkled on top. I highly recommend doing the same. You'll never go without again. 

Cauliflower All Done Up Indian Style

Sometimes you see something out there in blogland and you immediately know that you want to make it. This is one of those. Another one is Bazu & Daiku's pecan pie, which I'm going to make this weekend with a bit of a twist.

Mahanandi's Gobi Kasuri Methi with Golden Raisins just sounded soooo good. I just happened to have a head of cauliflower in my fridge that I was planning on cooking later in the day. I was overjoyed to see a yummy new recipe for my "white broccoli" (as Roman calls it). I had to leave out the raisins, unfortunately, because I can't have any dried fruits on my cleanse. (too much sugar). I looked in a few markets and couldn't find any of the kasuri methi (sundried fenugreek leaves), but I'm not going to give up. This still came nicely, but I bet the extra flavors would have made it even better.

I wasn't quite sure of the ingredient measurements, so I guessed. The next day there was a new blog post using the same recipe, but adding potatoes (aloo). Yum! I'm going to try it that way once I can get my hands on the kasuri methi. I also used canned tomatoes instead of fresh. I just have issue with buying those nasty cardboard-like tomatoes in the winter time. It seems so unnatural.

I ended up adding some fenugreek seeds instead of the fenugreek leaves, but that wasn't really the best idea. I brought this for lunch yesterday and today and today it was slightly bitter because of the seeds. So don't do that if you're tempted.

I don't really know what to call this, since I didn't add two of the ingredients in the name and I can't very well just call this "cauliflower" now can I?

Indian Cauliflower Yumminess

2 Tablespoons peanut oil
4 cloves slivered garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red onion, chopped
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chile powder

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the peanut oil. Once it's hot, add the garlic, cumin and mustard seeds. Cook for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the onion, tomatoes and cauliflower and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the coconut, turmeric, salt and chile powder and simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve over basmati rice. This makes 4-5 servings.