Vegetarian

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

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(Gluten Free, Meat Free, Dairy Free | Paleo-Friendly ) I get it. This dish is usually a cosy winter treat, but my Nature’s Window Veggie Box was just screaming ‘Shepherd’s Pie!’ Also, the weather in London has turned very English (rainy/cold) the last few days and has become quite chilly- only reinforcing my need for comfort food. I’ve never tried making a Shepherd’s Pie sans meat, but it turned out to be a fun experiment that was a filling, flavourful delight -so enjoy and feel free to try your own twist on it as well!

Ingredients for Topping

  • 10-15 new potatoes (or 4 large potatoes) –you can also easily swap out regular potatoes for sweet potatoes; I just needed to use the potatoes I had from my Veggie Box
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Heaping ½ – 1 tsp of hot (or smoky) paprika
  • 1 tbsp of garlic powder

Ingredients for Filling

  • 1-2 tbsp butter or coconut oil
  • 1-2 onion(s), chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 1 courgette (zucchini), chopped
  • 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
  • 6 button mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 handfuls of kale
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • Lentils (I only had about 100g (½ cup) of red lentils in my cupboard, so I used those. However, 300g (1½ cups) uncooked brown or green lentils, rinsed and drained would probably be best).
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Heaping ½ – 1 tsp of hot (or smoky) paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable broth
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder or gluten free flour

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).
  2. Throw new potatoes (or chopped large potatoes) into a pot of water and bring to boil. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Drain and place back into pot. Mash with paprika, butter and garlic butter until combined and creamy. Set aside.
  3. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil in skillet on medium heat.
  4. Sauté onion(s) and garlic for 2 minutes. Add in carrots, courgette and broccoli; continue to sauté for 10 minutes.
  5. Add in mushrooms, kale, tomato and lentils; cook for 3-4 more minutes and stir regularly to make sure lentils don’t cook to bottom of skillet.
  6. Add bay leaves, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt and pepper; mix.
  7. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
  8. Whisk the arrowroot powder (or thickening agent such as gluten free flour) into the vegetable broth.
  9. Pour the vegetable broth mixture into the skillet with the vegetables; cook for 10 more minutes or until it looks something like this:Vegetarian Shepherds Pie Prep
  10. Pour the vegetable mixture into a 2L (9×13) baking dish (or whatever baking dish fits the amount of mixture you’ve ended up with!).
  11. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the vegetable mixture until it’s fully covered.
  12. Bake for 20 minutes (or until topping is browned) and pull the beauty out of the oven to cool before serving.

Vegetarian Shepherds Pie

Serving of Vegetarian Shepherds Pie

Notes | Inspiration from Primally Inspired Butternut Squash Sheperd’s Pie

Peach Kale Salad

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(Gluten Free, Meat Free -Can be Dairy Free | Paleo – Friendly) It’s no secret to those who’ve met me; I freakin’ love kale. People get surprised in London when they see me eating kale raw, but I swear this recipe will change all of their minds! What I love about kale (aside from the whole ‘superfood’ rep it has) is that it doesn’t wilt or go off as quickly as spinach. For me, this means…packed lunches and picnics! So, enjoy this Peach Kale Salad for your packed lunch tomorrow or for your picnic this weekend and get all your friends saying ‘oh kale yeah!’

Ingredients for Salad

  • 1 bag of kale (200g or 6-8 ounces)
  • 4 peaches, cut
  • 1 tbsp butter or coconut oil
  • 1-2 onions, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Blue cheese, crumbled (skip this if you’re not eating dairy –or just don’t like it)

Ingredients for Dressing

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Sauté chopped onion and garlic in a frying pan with butter or coconut oil for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Put kale in large bowl.
  3. Put dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to mix. If you don’t have a jar, just whisk ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
  4. Pour the dressing over the kale and ‘massage’ into the leaves (using your hands or salad tongs).
  5. Add the sautéed mixture to the kale, sprinkle the chopped peaches and crumble the blue cheese on top.
  6. Let sit for at least an hour before serving for best, most bursting flavous of yumminess.

Tips: You can mix full salad and serve, or you can prep ingredients to make easy lunches. Simply sauté onion and garlic, mix dressing ingredients and store ingredients in fridge. To make a packed lunch, just throw ingredients together for an individual-sized packed lunch and put a few tablespoons of the dressing on. Kale is awesome at staying crunchy so don’t worry about putting the dressing on the night before and eating for lunch the next day!

Other ingredients I like to add to this salad: sunflower seeds and nuts (I tend to use walnuts because I normally have them around, but pine nuts, pecans or almonds would be tasty too).

Just look at the yum!

Peach Kale Salad

Quinoa & Roasted Vegetable Salad with Brazil Nut Pesto

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(Gluten Free, Meat Free, Dairy Free | Paleo-Friendly) I’m just going to say it. This recipe is awesome. I mean, of course I think this about all the recipes I put up, but this one is extra yummy! What I love about it is that you can literally throw all your week’s leftover veggies into this dish and come out with something really tasty. Also, it gets extra bonus points for being delicious hot or cold –AKA packed lunch anyone?!

Ingredients for Roasted Vegetable Salad

  • Roughly chop any vegetables you like- the more colours, the better! I used the suggestions from Hemsley Hemsley:
  • 4 large carrots, roughly chopped
  • 1 large red pepper, roughly chopped
  • 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes or 4 large tomatoes, halved
  • 1 large onion (red is best for colour), roughly chopped
  • 3 large beetroots, well scrubbed and chopped into small chunks or little wedges –as they take the longest to cook
  • 1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
  • A handful of fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary or 2 tbsp mixed dried herbs
  • Fresh leaves, such as rocket (arugula), lambs lettuce and watercress, to serve (I used rocket (arugula) and spinach)

Ingredients for Quinoa

  • 250 ml water or vegetable stock
  • 250g (2 cups) quinoa

Ingredients for Brazil Nut Pesto

  • 12 Brazil nuts
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 3 large handfuls of fresh basil (stalks and all if you’re using a strong blender)
  • 300 ml extra virgin olive oil (I tend to use closer to 200ml olive to make it a bit thicker, since 300ml is a lot!)
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C (390F).
  2. Lay the roughly chopped vegetables in a single layer on a large roasting tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and add your dollops of ghee or coconut oil. Scatter the herbs over this mixture.
  3. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until the veg is tender (pierce with a knife to check). Halfway through the roasting time, use a wooden spatula to turn the veggies.
  4. Meanwhile, make the pesto. Blitz everything together in a food processor or with a blender (the more nuts you add, the thicker and creamier your pesto will be, but if you want it thinner, add more oil and lemon juice). Alternatively, grab a sharp knife and finely chop the garlic, basil and nuts, then whisk with the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste.
  5. For the quinoa, follow these steps:
    • Using a fine mesh strainer, drain and rinse the quinoa until the water is clear and without foam.
    • Bring the 250ml water or vegetable stock to a medium-high heat.
    • Add the quinoa and stir once. Continue to cook on a medium simmer until tender –about 12 minutes.
    • Take off the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
  6. Combine the quinoa and roasted veg in a big serving bowl, toss in your pesto (or just sprinkle on top at end) and the fresh salad leaves.

Tip: Store any leftover pesto in your fridge and top random goodies throughout the week with it to jazz them up! This pesto is basically delicious on everything, but I really like it on my eggs.

Let’s just re-live the tastiness one more time with this picture…mmmmm.

Quinoa Roasted Vegetable Salad with Brazil Nut Pesto

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’