Meatless Monday with Vegan Lentil, Mushroom and Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

Welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for our latest Meatless Monday vegan recipe share. We took the Meatless Monday pledge to support reducing meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week for planetary health. We consider our support of this great movement part of our CSR business strategies as it stresses the importance that our food choices have on our environment. We feature a new recipe every Monday to help make going meat-free easier.

Even though it’s spring, there is still a chill in the air and this healthy but satisfying dish will be perfect. On the menu tonight is a vegan lentil, mushroom & sweet potato shepherd’s pie that is the epitome of vegan comfort food. Our recipe comes courtesy of  The Kichn.

Lentil, Mushroom & Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie Ingredients (serves 6):

Image courtesy of thekitchn.com

• 5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 cup brown or green lentils, washed and picked over
• 3/4 cup dry steel cut oats
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prick each sweet potato several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until very soft to the touch. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium pot, combine the lentils, oats, bay leaf and salt with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until lentils are soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally to keep the oats from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Discard bay leaf and drain mixture into a colander or sieve.
3. While the lentils and oats are cooking, finely chop half of the mushrooms and set aside. Cut the remaining mushrooms into quarters. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the quartered mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook until browned and soft. Add the chopped mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent. Lower heat to medium and add the lentil and oat mixture, followed by the vegetable stock, wine, tomato paste, soy sauce, paprika, and parsley. Taste and add salt if needed. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add a few grinds of black pepper.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel sweet potatoes with your hands and place in a medium bowl. Use a fork to mash them into a smooth paste and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Evenly spread the lentil mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish. (For thicker layers, use a 9×9-inch pan.) Spoon the sweet potato mixture on top and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling at the edges.

Though this may seem like a daunting recipe for a weeknight, you can make and assemble the dish ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for up to two days. You could prepare this on Sunday when you have more preparation time and then cook it on a Monday. This recipe also freezes well “after assembling, cover and freeze. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake uncovered at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, or until filling is bubbling at the edges.” Don’t forget when freezing meals to label it with what is, when it was made, a best before date and the thawing/cooking instructions so anyone can get dinner ready.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.