Healthy Shepherd's Pie

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, we made a delicious and lightened up shepherd's pie this weekend.  We've made them in the past, but they were always so heavy that I never really enjoyed it.  This time we had a goal of making it not only delicious, but enjoyable.  I found Ellie Krieger's Shepherd's Pie recipe which seemed to have potential.  With a little bit more searching, I found another recipe from a blogger (Kristin from Iowa) that also looked fantastic.  Overall, this recipe turned out amazing!  I would highly recommend it to anyone who's looking to have a shepherd's pie full of flavor but without all the fat.

Ingredients:

Lightened Up Mashed Potatoes (topping)
- 2 russet potatoes
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups of skim milk
- salt, pepper

Shepherd's Pie Filling (base)
- 1 lb of ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots (or 1 large carrot), diced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 teaspoons thyme, chopped
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups of chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- salt, pepper


Recipe:
1) To make the lightened up mashed potatoes, use both russet potatoes and cauliflower.  Cut the potatoes into 2 in cubes and break the cauliflower into florets.

2) Add the chopped potatoes to a steamer.  Steam with the lid on for 10 mins.

3) After 10 mins, add the cauliflower and steam for another 15 mins. Should be able to stick a knife through it cleanly.

3) Add the steamed potatoes and cauliflower to a food processor.  Add melted butter and milk.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix with a 'whipping blade' until smooth texture.  Set aside.

4) To make the shepherd's pie filling, pull together the following ingredients.

5) Chop onion and carrots.  Add to a saute pan and cook for 8 minutes.

6) Chop mushrooms and thyme. Add to saute pan with onions and carrots and cook for another 8 minutes or until mushrooms are soft.  Set aside cooked vegetables.

7) Brown ground turkey (~5 mins).  Add 3 flour and cook for 1 minute.

8) Add tomato paste, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, salt, pepper.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add frozen peas.

9) Pour the filling into a pan. Top with lightened up mashed potatoes topping.  Add a few tablespoons of butter on top.

10)  Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Broil for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Suggested: pair the shepherd's pie with a guinness!  :)