thoughtful consumption

Fried rice is the traditional vegetable vacuum in my kitchen. But now there’s a new contender: shepherd’s pie!

Shepherd’s Pie

I made this Thursday night and served it with an arugula and lettuce salad. Chris and I ate the whole thing!

And when it was all gone, Chris licked the serving spoon clean.

Here’s what was in it.

• .625 lb of CSA beef (approximately)
• a bunch of green onions, chopped
• a large Asian turnip, diced
• a large purple radish, diced
• Worchestershire sauce
• brown mustard
• 2 little cloves of garlic, minced
• a cup of beef bouillon
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 ½ cup mashed potatoes

I sautéed the turnip, radish, and garlic in the butter. Once they were soft, I added the beef and cooked it until it was no longer pink. Then I added the green onions, Worchestershire, mustard, and bouillon. After it cooked down a little bit, I scooped it into a baking dish and topped it with the mashed potatoes.

(The mashed potatoes I had frozen weeks before. I mixed in an egg and then flash froze them in muffin tins to get serving size portions. I defrosted five of them in the microwave for this dish.)

Then the dish baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes until the potatoes were brown.

This recipe idea came from Elise at SimplyRecipes.com.

Future Pies

I’m sure there are lots of other veggies that could go in here. Maybe even some of those turnip greens blanched and chopped. Or the peas, Brussels sprouts, and various green beans in my freezer.

And I read that beef actually makes “Cottage Pie” and lamb makes “Shepherd’s Pie.” So now I have a good excuse to try some ground lamb from Gum Creek.

Between Pioneer Porridge and Shepherd’s Pie, I think we might be able to make it through the CSA off season!