Shepherd's Pie

Holy crap is this delicious. I was optimistic, but not prepared for how awesomely delightful this turned out to be, although, honestly, if you put mashed potatoes on a shingle I'd probably be thrilled, so there's my bias. I've never had real (beefy) Shepherd's Pie, but it can't possibly be as good as this delightful vegetarian version I found on Vegetarian Chic and then changed slightly to match my own tastes (of course).

It's a bit labor intensive as it requires you to make mashed potatoes as well as lentils and saute some stuff, so next time, I'm going to double the recipe--plus, there just wasn't enough!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lentils (green or brown)

2 large russet or three medium red potatoes

1/2 cup spinach (frozen works)

1/4 cup shredded carrot

2 cloves garlic

milk

cream cheese

basil, cumin, parsley, salt to taste

soy sauce

• Place lentils and about 2 cups water in sauce pan, and bring water to a boil. After boiling, let simmer at medium until lentils are tender (this may require periodically adding more water, but don't over add). Once lentils are nearly done, add a few spices and a few splashes of soy sauce. Cook until all liquid is absorbed.
• Transfer lentils to another dish and rinse pot for potatoes.
• Peel and dice 2 large russet or 3 medium red potatoes and place in sauce pan with water enough to cover and float them. Boil until fork tender, then mash with potato masher. Once the potatoes are slightly broken down, add about 1/3 cup of milk, 2 tbsp cream cheese, and a few dashes of salt. Re-mash until potatoes are smooth, and stir with a wooden spoon to mix in all ingredients. Potatoes should be thick consistency, but not too thick to spread.
• In frying pan, add three glugs olive oil and two cloves garlic diced. Saute garlic until slightly golden brown. Add spinach. If using frozen spinach, be prepared for a reaction from the oil. Saute spinach for about five minutes, then add shredded carrot. Saute, then add lentils. Saute all vegetables, add more basil, parsley and cumin to taste, then spread mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish (note, I used a full-sized casserole dish, and had a very thin pie, hence the doubling next time.) Use a smaller one if you don't want to double.
• Spread mixture evenly to all edges. Then plop mashed potatoes on top and spread as neatly as possible to the edges.
• Bake at 325 for 20 minutes!