Hello wonderful humans, I hope you’re all doing well.

I was recently having a chat with mum about what to make for dinner – I get stuck for dinner ideas too by the way – and we were taking about all the dishes that she used to (and at times still does) make for us. One of them, which I absolutely loved growing up, is Shephard’s Pie. She makes it with ground beef but I thought I’d attempt making it with a super nutritious lentil Bolognese-type sauce.

Just to clarify, because I do get this question a lot, I am not fully vegan or even vegetarian, I am flexitarian which, to me, means that my diet is heavily plant based but I do not omit or restrict any form of food from my diet. I do tend to cook vegan and veggie meals at home because that is genuinely the type of food I enjoy making and eating however when we go out for a meal, or visit relatives I do eat whatever I’m in the mood for. The older I get and the more I learn about food and nutrition, the more I realise that diet is so very personal and it should never be surrounded by anyone else’s judgement. There is no demonization of any food group here! I simply love cooking plant-forward meals that are delicious, nutritious and versatile, which we know are very important for human health and for the health of the planet, but that’s it.

OK, on the recuipe!

INGREDIENTS:

Base layer:

3 boiled eggs

Middle layer:

1 onion
2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons tomato paste
200g mushrooms
200g carrots
400ml tinned tomatoes
1 Kallo Reduced Salt Chicken cube
300g Good Earth Brown Lentils
100ml water

Top layer:

300g potatoes
150ml Alpro This Is Not Milk
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper

Handful of grated cheese

Step one:

Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes. Add them to a pot of salted water and boil until fork tender.

Step two:

In another small pot, boil your eggs

Step three:

Start on the filling. Add 1 tablespoons olive oil to a large pan and once hot, add your sliced mushrooms. Let them brown for about 8-10 mins. Now add your tomato paste, finely chopped onion and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Once softened add diced carrots. Cook for a few minutes and add tinned tomatoes, stock cube, water and lentils. Allow to cook for 20-25 mins until lentils are tender.

While your sauce cooks, make the mashed potatoes. Remove water and add Alpro this is not milk, salted butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Assembly:

Start by adding one layer of sliced boiled eggs, top with your lentil sauce and finally add mashed potatoes and a final sprinkling of grated cheese.

Bake at 200 Celsius for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Swapping ground beef for lentils not only retains protein in this dish but also increases many minerals, vitamins and fibre which makes it a healthier alternative and great for gut health!

That’s it from me for today – I’ll be back with a new blog post Every Single week

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Until next week, be well xXx