Vegetarian Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

It sure has been a while, and while I have not been posting, it doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. The fact of the matter is - these blogs take up a good portion of time, and at times, certain things take priority over sharing my food creations.

With that said, I could not resist getting this tasty little pot of goodness out there. What we have is a vegetarian shepherd's pie with a tofu/veggie layer, a vegetarian gravy, and sweet potatoes mashed on top. Known as a working-man's dish, the looks of this one fit that description, but the taste will make anyone strive to be a working-man.

So here's what we have. I sort of cooked everything at the same time so that it wasn't a drawn out process. I started by cutting up four sweet potatoes and boiling them in some slightly salted water (I would actually use 5 or 6 for a thicker potato layer - something this can definitely handle). While they were cooking, I made up the tofu layer:

1 block of tofu cubed small
1 large onion
2 stalks of celery
1-2 stalks of broccoli
1/2 cup of chopped almonds
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp coriander
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp Braggs (or soy sauce)

Start by cooking up the onions and celery in some oil with the thyme, cumin, and coriander on medium heat. After about 2-3 minutes, add the broccoli and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Next add the tofu and Braggs and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Finally add the chopped almonds and lemon juice and let cook for another 5 minutes. Stir occasionally throughout, and lower the heat after the tofu cooks for a few minutes.

Vegetarian Gravy:
1 1/2 cup of water from that used for boiling the potatoes
3 tbsp arrowroot starch (or cornstarch) dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup Braggs
1 tbsp horseradish
1 small red onion chopped
6-10 cloves of garlic chopped

Start by sauteing the onion and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the water, tamari, braggs, and horseradish. Slowly stir in the arrowroot water, and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until thick.
This would also be really good with some mushrooms - I just didn't have any on hand.

Finally, for the sweet-mashed-potatoes, I boiled up the four cut sweet potatoes until they were soft. I used a hand masher to mash the potatoes (skins and all), about 1/3 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of soy milk, a little bit of salt, and about 2 tbsp of raw sugar, and mashed until smooth.

Finally, I layered the three, with the tofu layer on the bottom, a layer of sliced zucchini (which will cook during the bake), the thickened gravy layer, and all topped with the sweet potatoes. I then baked it at 400 for about 20 minutes. This pot is probably good for 6-8 people, more if served with sides or salads.

yum yum yum yum...