Adventures in Vegetarian Cooking: Shepard's Pie

Hey, hey - a recipe! It has been awhile.  Our eat the freezer month has involved a lot of meat, since we have a lot in the freezer.  Yesterday I wanted to get a vegetarian meal in, vegan even, so I could still claim the title I made up for myself - "quasi-vegetarian."

I don't remember where I got the idea for this, but I've been wanting to try it for awhile.  I've never liked shepard's pie, I remember it being my least favorite school lunch day.  But replacing white potatoes (never been a huge fan) with sweet potatoes (always been a huge fan) sounded appealing to me.  Also sweet potatoes, black beans and corn go really well together. I also had some meatless crumbles in the freezer I was looking to use up for the challenge so I added those in as well.

I paired it with cornbread and a Custom Brewcrafter vanilla latte stout and it made a really nice Friday night dinner!

Even though he made a face when I said I was making vegetarian shepard's pie for dinner, the skeptic gave it a:

Vegan Shepard's Pie

2 T olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz black beans and/or meatless crumbles
16 oz corn (I used frozen but fresh or canned would work)
3 sweet potatoes, roasted or microwaved and then mashed
Trader Joe's African smoke spice blend to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.  Sautee the onions in olive oil over medium low heat until they are just about carmelized (about 10 min) and then add the garlic.  Sautee a few minutes more.  Add the meatless crumbles, black beans, corn and spices.  Cook for 5 minutes and then transfer to a greased casserole dish.  Layer the sweet potatoes over the bean and corn mixture and then bake for 30 minutes. 



 I used this South African Smoke Spice, but if you don't have this I would suggest using paprika, garlic powder and basil.  Or you could go with a taco type seasoning and use cumin, chili pepper, and oregano.  That would be good too.