It’s been cold here. And by cool I’m talking 30s. San Diego does not get this cold, at least not consistently, so it’s caught us all by surprise. We do not own the proper attire. We are cold and shivering, so we must eat warm and hearty thing to sustain us through this most brutal of Southern California winters. Tragic, I know. But for those of you truly enduring a harsh Northern winter, I give you this to keep you toasty: a wonderfully warm and hearty tempeh based version of the classic Shepherd’s Pie. Full of protein and topped with the fluffy mash. Here goes our version, hopefully your prep goes a little smoother.
Out of the gate, I lost my sidekick. Downed by a potato peeler. It’s a shame because she’s a darn good peeler. After the medics took care of grazed thumb, she was back crumbling tempeh while I finished up the spuds. No one ever said Shepherd’s pie was easy. Actually, it is pretty easy. There’s some prep work to be had, but after that assembly is a cinch. I was working from an awesome tempeh based Veganomincon recipe with a few simple twists. And can I add that I am just loving tempeh these days—tempeh hash, kale avocado wraps with spicy miso dipped tempeh.
I had a few lonely carrots hanging out the in fridge, so in they went. You could really add in any heartish vegetable to the mix—green beans, cauliflower, spinach. I made the mashed potatoes with vegan butter and a little soy creamer. Easy as that. If you wanted to get all fancy, you could add some cashew cream into the potatoes, but really no need. It would be especially good, but not necessary unless you just happen to have some around.
Prep Time:
Yield:
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Adapted from Veganomicon
Ingredients
Tempeh filling:
- 16 oz. tempeh, (2 pkgs.)
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce, I used Bragg’s in place of soy sauce
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup flour
Potato topping:
- 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
- 1/3 cup nondairy milk, unsweetened is best or I just used soy coffee creamer
- 1/4 cup Earth Balance
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Crumble the tempeh into bite-size pieces in a large skillet or dutch oven. Add the water, tamari/soy/Braggs, and a teaspoon of oil. Cover and bring to a boil and let boil for about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, cover the potatoes with water and boil for about 20 minutes or until soft and mashable. Drain and return to the pot.
- After 10 minutes, uncover the tempeh and let simmer till most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes or so. Drain the tempeh and set aside. Return your pan to the stove top over medium high heat. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and sauté onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add tempeh back to the pan, along with the mushrooms, spices and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes more until the mushrooms release their liquid and the tempeh starts to brown. While this cooks, you can mash your potatoes with the Earth Balance, creamer/nondairy milk and salt and pepper until nice and creamy. Preheat your oven to 375° F.
- Add the peas and corn to the tempeh mixture and cook just long enough for them to be warm. If things start to stick, add a little more olive oil.
- Combine the vegetable broth and flour. Mix well until there are almost no lumps. Add to the pan and stir for about 3 minutes until nice and thick. It will get thicker as it bakes.
- Scoop the tempeh into your 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover the tempeh mixture with the potatoes. Make sure it’s not too hot, but it works best to use your fingers for this part.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are browned on top.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 462
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 1015
- Fat: 15
- Carbohydrates: 63
- Fiber: 6
- Protein: 20
- Cholesterol: 0
Looks delicious! Was wondering if you had any suggestions for substituting the tempeh. I no longer eat soy products. There is nothing like tempeh, but soy products aren’t worth it.
Let me know if you think of anything 🙂
I’m thinking white beans might be a good start. I would skip the tempeh prep and start with sautéing the onion. Add a can of white beans (rinsed and drained) in when you add the corn and such. Taste your filling and if it needs something else, add a little soy sauce. If you give it a try, please let us know how it turns out!
And since you’re avoiding soy, check out our recipe page. They’re all now searchable by ‘soy-free’ and ‘gluten-free’!!
Doh, disregard to ‘soy sauce’ part of that comment. Of course you can’t have soy sauce…
will be trying this recipe soon! What is wrong with SOY PRODUCTS??
@nan – I think some folks just have a sensitivity to soy. There are also quite a few people with soy allergies.
@Nan Also the extra estrogen that floats around when too much soy is consumed can contribute to weight gain(too much estrogen in women will do that; women that start taking bcp often notice this). When we have vegan patients that are overweight usually if they cut back on soy products they will see it start to taper down. This recipe sounds great though, I can’t wait to try it.
You can always buy black bean tempeh or pinto bean tempeh. I make this recipe all the time. I mean ALL the time and I use Black Bean Tempeh. It’s delicious.
@Susan – I can’t wait to try it with black bean tempeh next time! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
I’m going to make your tempeh shepherd’s pie tonight, but I’m going to try it with mashed yucca instead of mashed potatoes. Wish me luck
Sounds superb! I think it will work perfectly 🙂