Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

This recipe is one adapted by my great friend and artist Mai-Coh:

Photo courtesy of Mai-Coh

    

Filling:
    1 small or medium onion, chopped
    2 cloves of garlic, mashed
    3 small carrots, chopped
    1/2 cup spinach, chopped
    1 stalk celery, chopped
    1 large tomato, chopped
    2 tbsp olive oil
    1/2 cup cooked or canned green lentils, mashed
    1/2 tsp dried basil
    1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
    3 medium potatoes, roughly chopped
    1/4 cup soy milk
    1 tbsp margarine or olive oil
    Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/350 degrees F. In a medium pot of water, boil the chopped potatoes until they can be pierced easily with a fork. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onions, garlic, carrots, spinach, celery, and tomatoes in the oil. Once carrots are tender, add the mashed lentils, basil, salt, and pepper. Stir and simmer without a lid until the liquid cooks off.

Meanwhile, in a food processor or a medium bowl, mash the potatoes, milk, margarine, and salt with a potato masher or fork. Set aside. Pour the vegetable mixture into a lightly oiled pie plate and then layer the mashed potatoes over top. Bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Makes 4-6 servings.

Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those really satisfying comfort foods. This recipe is adapted from my late German stepmother's recipe, using spring onions instead of white onions. I dedicate this recipe to my dear friend and colleague Julie C, who loves it.  

Ingredients:

1kg (2.24Lbs) new potatoes, whole
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
I medium gherkin, finely chopped
4 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
4 tablespoons of real mayonnaise
1 teaspoon English or strong German mustard

Method:

Boil the potatoes whole in salted water until cooked through. Drain and allow to cool. I no longer peel potatoes, except for making mashed and roast potatoes, but you can peel them after boiling if you so wish. Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces and place them in a large bowl with all remaining ingredients. Mix well and press the potato salad into a storage container. Allow it to chill in the fridge overnight for the flavour to develop before serving.

Serving:

Perfect with boiled German and Polish sausages, or as a side for BBQ meats.

Enjoy!

Simple Tarka Daal

Tarka daal is one of those great dishes whose flavour belies the simplicity of its ingredients, and a great comfort food dish that satisfies like no other. Channa daal are hulled split chick peas, a good source of tasty protein. The 'tarka' is the addition of fried aromatics to give a burst of flavour once the daal has been cooked.

This is a very simple recipe I devised for my friend Tatia.

Ingredients:

2 cups dry channa daal (or yellow split peas)
Plenty of water
3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 shallots or a small onion finely sliced
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon of whole cumin (jeera)
1 finely chopped fresh green chilli
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the daal and rinse it, cover with at leat 2cm of water and bring to a boil. Boil the daal on high heat for 2 minutes then simmer until it is soft, stirring and adding more water as necessary. The daal will thicken naturally as it cooks, so adjust the water until you have the right consistency. I like mine quite runny. Once ready, remove from the heat and cover.

Heat the oil until it is hot then add the garlic, shallots, cumin and chilli and stir. Take care not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter. Once the onion is cooked, stir the whole lot into the pan of daal and mix well. Adjust for taste with salt and serve.

Serving:
I like to serve daal with roti bread or plain steamed rice.

Lemon Crunch Pie

Like a cheese cake with added ginger

Ingredients:

    * 8oz Ginger Biscuits
    * 4oz Melted Butter
    * 1 small tin condensed milk
    * Juice 2 lemons
    * grated rind 1 lemon
    * 1/4 pt double cream

Method

   1. Crush biscuits
   2. Melt butter
   3. Mix biscuits into butter
   4. Press into the base of loose bottomed sponge cake tin
   5. Mix together other ingredients except cream
   6. Slowly add the cream and stir together (can use fork or blender)
   7. Pour onto crumb base and leave in the fridge to set