Having to cook for a bunch of men who do not believe dinner is complete without any meat on their plates, can be quite challenging for someone trying to go fully Veganuary!
Time is a precious commodity, so I try and simplify my menu planning and prepping for two main courses; one for my menfolk and the guests in our bnb and one for Mom and I; with hubby joining us at times as our meals often look way more appetizing and he does enjoy a taste sensation!
So on this particular night, good old Shepherd's Pie was on the menu for dinner and this was easily replicated as a flavoursome Sassy Vegan Shepherd's Pie for our Veganuary dinner.
As we're on a self-imposed ban from running to the shopping malls on a whim, I try to use simple ingredients; whatever's in the refrigerator or in the garden, so let's go foraging and see what we can find.
The tips of young Pumpkin plants are delicious cooked like spinach, but it tastes ten times better! This I learnt from Mary, Mom's domestic worker who I grew up with and who eventually worked for me. She used to make Umfino with it; a traditional Xhosa dish made with wild spinach, mushy potato & onion and served with Phutu, a crumbly Maize Meal porridge, similar to Polenta or Grits.
Pumpkin leaves & tendrils.
A little bit of extra Thyme is always nice;)
Carrots and Leeks which are my kind of refrigerator staples.
A quick tip here
My Gran taught me how to give some veggies a second life by cutting off the roots of leeks, spring onions and carrots and replanting them. You'll have new spring onions and leeks growing in no time; the leaves sprouting from the carrot tops can be used in cooking, much like Parsley!
Enough of my chattering, so let's get cooking!
I'm going to give you the quantities I used, but you can chop and change as you wish and use your favourite veggies.
Veganuary Shepherd's Pie
- 5 Spring Onions
- 3 Leeks
- 3 Carrots, grated
- Small bunch of Young Pumpkin leaves and stalks OR Spinach, diced
- 3/4 cup Peas
- 2 Tbsp Onion Powder
- Vegetable Stock
- 2 Tbsp Cornflour for thickening
- Approx 2 cups Potato Mash made with Coconut Cream & Vegan Butter
Sautee Spring Onions & Leeks in Olive Oil
Add remaining vegetables and stir fry a little, before adding enough vegetable stock to cover veggies.
Cook till tender, then thicken with cornflour and spoon into oven dish.
Note, I used 2 smaller dishes to make individual pies.
Spoon potato mash on top, score with a fork & brown under grill.
Join the Vevolution - Veganuary Challenge
Thank you for stopping by
Copyright @lizelle – All Rights Reserved
Do you know this Badge?
It says "Thank you for partnering with the Papillon Foundation by participating in the
Weekly Hive Charity Giveaway."
Do you want this Badge?
If you like this badge and if you want to help too, you can learn more about @combination and the badge in their blog post:
Some Exciting News! Badge release!
Why not join Hive RIGHT HERE and become part of this amazing community!
Banner created by @derangedvisions
Shepherd's Pie is such a hearty and filling food, even a vegan version. I hope this was hearty enough to satisfy your menly men, it looks absolutely delicious!!
Thanks @lizelle for sharing this with us.
Your post is featured in our latest #plantbased curation post, Shepherd's Pie, Wheat Berries, Dispelling Vegan Myths, Top Chef Kebabs, And More!!.
You've been curated by @justinparke for Natural Medicine's curation project aimed at supporting fruit, vegetable and grain recipes, dialogue about cruelty free eating, conscious eating for the planet, and quality meat free food blogs! We upvote, reblog and tweet your great #plantbased content.
Community | Discord
Thank you so much for this, it certainly was hearty, really feel honoured to be featured among those awesome posts;)
Thank you for sharing this amazing post on HIVE!
Your content got selected by our fellow curator @stevenson7 & you just received a little thank you via an upvote from our non-profit curation initiative!
You will be featured in one of our recurring curation compilations and on our pinterest boards! Both are aiming to offer you a stage to widen your audience within and outside of the DIY scene of hive.
Join the official DIYHub community on HIVE and show us more of your amazing work and feel free to connect with us and other DIYers via our discord server: https://discord.gg/mY5uCfQ !
If you want to support our goal to motivate other DIY/art/music/homesteading/... creators just delegate to us and earn 100% of your curation rewards!
Stay creative & hive on!
Thank you so very much for your wonderful support @stevenson7 and @diyhub!
Yum! This looks phenomenal! Hope you're well, my friend.
It was a nice change from the usual meaty version! We're keeping well my friend,very busy plus taking our morning cocktail the son sent, super bitter and sour plus keeping to social distancing for now while this new highly infectious strain is running amok!
It's just horrid how many are dying from it here, just awful.
PS my nephew went to....St Thomas, your favourite spot, he said it was awesome!
Nice seeing you Eric,:)
All is well here, we're happy about the recent election. Although he wasn't our top pick for President I think now, at least, we'll have a national strategy on Covid. I'm so sorry to hear about how bad things are getting there in South Africa. That new strain is supposed to be horrible. It's already been identified here in America as well. Ah, St. Thomas! I'm glad to hear he enjoyed it. We were hoping to get down this year before it got too warm but it doesn't look like it'll happen. This will be the first year since 2016 that we've missed it. Stay well, Lizelle and take care of yourself!
We are being super careful since this new strain, hopefully it will soon start calming down; we haven't heard of people we know in the last couple of days at least!
Mom's brother in law passed away (not Covid related, he was 92 already!) but how special to have a virtual memorial as we could see all the cousins from all over; one in New Zealand and one in Australia; this would not have happened if the family went the usual route of a chapel or church service. My cousin arranged it all at home and only his immediate family attended; chapels and churches are charging the earth to discourage larger gatherings. One is limited to only 50 people in any case.
How life has changed not so!
You take care of yourself too Eric!
I’m sorry for your loss! The spouse of a friend of ours recently passed and they had a virtual memorial. It was such a nice tribute and a creative way to celebrate her life. Hopefully these new strains won’t be resistant to the vaccine. Thanks, you take care too! Hopefully very soon this nightmare will be over.
😋
🤩
Beautiful pie!
It was delicious and real easy! Thanks for stopping by;)
Yummy yummy and beautiful dish 😋
Thank you @sreypov but my dishes pale in comparison to your super flavoursome dishes!
Oh boy, my taste buds are tingling, looks so good 😍
Some great tips and tricks here once again Lizelle, we learn a lot from people who come into our lives.
Cooking everyday one does have to carefully look around at what is available off the land to keep it fresh and tasty!
I must admit there's been some positive spin-offs from Covid, like learning to use whatever's on hand. I've certainly learnt a lot here on Hive in so many aspects!
Appreciate your visit Joan, bracing ourselves for heavy rain and strong winds although all is calm at the moment.
Way too hot yesterday, the wind started around 3am this morning with light drizzle, great to enjoy no aircon with windows flung open.
Have a wonderful Sunday and yes we always learning new tricks, not so.
It's 35 degrees celsius today and you have made me feel like hot shephard's pie.. damn you girl!!! Yum.
LOL, I've made it with spicy brown lentils before, that's also really nice!
It's been really hot and humid here as well but a little cooler today. We're bracing ourselves for heavy rains and strong wind coming from the cyclone that's been battering Mozambique!
Glad you enjoyed the virtual helping;)