Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

We had leftover red-skinned mashed potatoes from Christmas, so I was inspired to try making shepherd’s pie for the first time. When you have mashed potatoes ready to go, it becomes much easier!

I cooked the lentils according to package directions, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I sauteed red onion in olive oil for a few minutes, added one chopped fresh tomato (from the garden), chopped white mushrooms, soy sauce, and some dried herbs – thyme, marjoram, rosemary.

When the lentils were cooked, I added them to the pan with some of the liquid, cooked another 5 minutes or so.

Lightly oiled the casserole dish, sprinkled panko breadcrumbs in the bottom, then added the filling. Topped with the leftover mashed potatoes (warmed in microwave to room temp).

Baked at 400F for 35 minutes until the top was crispy and brown.

Boy, was it good.

Vegetarian Mince Pie Roll

I helped my mom make vegetarian mince pies over Christmas, and we had lots of leftover mince. I took it home with me and made a batch of pies, but since I only had one tray, I used the rest of the dough and mince to make a roll.

It actually turned out really nicely – better than the pies, in some cases, since I did a poor job of pressing the top dough into the bottom dough and some of them fell apart. This was easier, too! Can just cut in slices.

I don’t have the recipe for the mincemeat, but it was lots of dried fruit and brown sugar (you can find a variety of recipes online), but here is the pastry recipe – nice sweet orange flavor, I envision using this for other desserts in the future.

Pastry
1lb plain flour
6 oz powdered sugar
12 oz butter
finely grated rind and juice of one orange

Be sure butter is COLD. In food processor add dry ingredients and orange rind and mix for short time
and butter, cut into smaller pieces (doesn’t need to be too small as processor will blend together)
Process until the butter is mixed in evenly
While processor is on, slowly add the OJ
When the mixture forms a ball you can stop, take care not to make it too wet.
Empty container out and shape into an oval shape, cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 20 minutes (if you chill too long it will get very hard)

Preheat oven to 425F
Roll out dough to large oval shape
Cover with layer of mincemeat
Roll
Brush milk on top of pastry to brown it
Bake approximately 20 minutes until light golden brown

Black Olive Hummus with a Little Spice

1 can of garbanzo beans
1 can sliced black olives2 Tbs tahini
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs chili oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
3 sprigs Italian Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

I like the olive hummus from Trader Joe’s, so wanted to try making it myself.

Drain the garbanzo beans, saving the juice. Put everything in a food processor, plus some of the juice – more or less, depending on how smooth you like your hummus.

Usually you put 2 Tbs of olive oil, by substituting chili oil you get a little kick to the hummus, but nothing overpowering.

Blackberry Pineapple Chutney

After Thanksgiving, I enjoyed spreading cranberry sauce on crackers with cheese. I wanted to make a similar sweet yet tart chutney, and the blackberries and pineapple looked good at the grocery store, so I gave this a shot.

First, I sauteed some chopped red onion in olive oil for 5-7 minutes. Then I added the blackberries and finely chopped pineapple, proportion of 2 to 1. And about a quarter of an orange, peeled & chopped. Cooked on medium low until it became chutney-like, then tasted it and decided to add a little brown sugar to make it sweeter (about a tablespoon). And just a splash of red wine vinegar. Then I let it cook about 15 more minutes.

Was lovely addition to a snack tray, I had it on crackers with smoked gouda. Mmm.

Quinoa Salad

I had originally made this for a potluck, but ended up not attending so just shared with people at work. The recipe used several ingredients from the garden.

Tomatoes, peppers, and peppermint from the garden

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Mixed peppers, chopped
Stalk of celery, chopped
Persian cucumber, chopped
Sliced olives
Italian parsley
Peppermint
Lemon juice

Made the quinoa by simmering, covered, in vegetable broth for about 20 minutes. I let it cool, then just mixed in all the chopped vegetables and herbs, as well as a few squirts of lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. I was tempted to use olive oil but wanted to keep in nice and healthy. I then let it sit in the fridge overnight.

This was intended to be a side salad. I think next time I would try adding beans or tofu and it could be a complete meal.

Quinoa salad

 

 

Sun-Dried and Roma Tomato Pasta Sauce

A jar of pasta sauce I intended to use had expired, so I made this sauce in a hurry. Most marinara sauces take awhile to cook (simmering for an hour or more), but this took just 15 minutes. The dried basil and the oregano were both from the garden.

10 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1/4 red onion
2 cloves garlic
Dried basil
Greek oregano
Spicy oregano
Dry red wine
Olive oil

I sauteed red onion and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, then added spices & tomatoes until they cooked down (about 5 more minutes), adding a little wine when I needed more liquid. Took maybe 10 minutes total. It was nice and chunky, which I like (I would have added tomato juice or vegetable broth if I wanted it saucier). Served over ravioli.

First Lettuce

Lettuce patch in late November

The lettuce patch has been doing really well, and we can now harvest lettuce. There is nothing quite like fresh greens from the ground!

Lettuce harvested & ready to eat

First Radishes

Growth of radishes as of late November

We were able to harvest our first radishes recently! Crispy, juicy, and real nice on a salad.

Radishes fresh from the garden