Packed full of veggies and so hearty and comforting, perfect for dinner on a cold winter night.   

There are a few healthy twists going on in this recipe that you gotta try...

• Traditionally the Shepherd's pie that I am familiar with is made with beef,  I lightened it up and used lentils instead.
• For the creamy sauce we used raw cashews to thicken the broth instead of   flour. Raw cashews are like this magical ingredient that blend up into a super creamy sauce. 

When I make this recipe Kim goes behind me and cleans up my mess. Ya a lot of pots and pans going on in this recipe.  But its worth it.  We make this recipe on a Sunday and eat it during the week. Does anyone else do food prep on a Sunday or is it just us? The week seems to be so much easier when there are things in the fridge ready to go.  Am I right? 

The inspiration for this recipe comes from our Tex Mex Veggie Lentil Soup recipe.  This soup recipe is my go to soup in the colder months, but sometime you just want something that is a little heartier than a soup.  I played around with the recipe a bit changed up the veggies,  made a sauce out of the broth and added mashed potatoes on top and there you go Shepherd's Pie!  

Do you have lentils in your cupboard?  Do you cook with lentils often?  You gotta try them, your gonna love them.

Top 3 reasons why I love cooking with lentils 

• Lentils are really inexpensive
• Lentils are so easy to cook
• Lentils are high in essential nutrients like protein and fiber

Inexpensive + Heathy + Delicious = Winning!

The lentils.ca website has some great health and nutrition information, you might want to check it out.

Yum want a bite? 

Lentil Shepherd's Pie Recipe   

Serves: this recipe makes two 8 inch pies (cook once eat twice) 

What You Need

For the mashed potato topping..

• 6-7 large potatoes (or 12-14 medium sized potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of milk (rice milk, almond milk, cashew milk any of these are great)

For the Shepard pie filling...

The flavour base... 

• 1 red onion
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon sage
• 1/2 tablespoon chilli powder
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (if you don't like things spicy then add less or skip it) 

The veggies + lentils + sauce... 

• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup green lentils (red lentils needs less cooking time and would get mushy in this recipe )
• 1 can tomato paste - 6oz
• 4 cups boiled water
• 1/4 cup cashews (reserve this until the Shepard pie filling is cooked)
• 1 cup frozen peas (reserve until the pie filing is cooked and the sauce is made)
• 1 cup frozen corn (reserve until the pie filling is cooked and the sauce is made)     

What To Do

Potato topping   

(1) Peel and cube the potatoes, get them boiling in a large pot.

(2) When the potatoes are cooked drain the water.  

(3) Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil, milk, salt and pepper and then mash the potatoes.

(4) Set aside until the shepherds pie filling is done.

Shepherd's pie filling 

(5) Dice the onions, carrots and celery. Rinse the lentils.

(6) Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat, add in the onion, cook until golden brown. 

(7) Add in all of the spices; sage, chilli powder, cumin, cayenne,  veggies and lentils give it a stir.

(8) Add in the boiled water and the tomato paste and give it a good stir.

(9) Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low.  Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils and veggies are softened. 

Blend  

(10) Take 1 1/2 cups of the Shepherds pie filling out of the pot and put it in the blender with the cashews and blend until creamy smooth.

(11) Take the filling out of the blender and put it back in the pot and stir, and voila a nice thick sauce! 

Almost there...

(12) Taste it and add more himalayan salt and freshly ground cracked pepper if you think it needs it.

(13) Add in the frozen peas and frozen corn and give it a stir.

(14) Transfer to a oven safe baking dish and top with mashed potatoes.    

(15) Brush the top of the potatoes with a bit of melted coconut oil, bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly browned.  

(16) Let cool before serving so it can thicken up a bit.

Let’s Get Healthy Together

Get in the kitchen and give this recipe a try.

Enjoy

Let us know how it turns out for you.  Write us a comment or post a picture on instagram and tag us @saltsole, we wanna see it.

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Credit/Acknowledgement

Icon credit - Noun Project

• Onion icon created by: Luis Prado
• Pot cooking icon created by: Creative Stall
• Blender icon created by: Yorlmar Campos
• Running man icon by: Norbert Kucsera