Vegan Shepherd's Pie (w/ Garlic-Basil Mashed Potatoes)

Every year, on St. Patrick's Day, we'd have Corned Beef and Cabbage. Since I stopped eating meat, I forgo the corned beef but still have the potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

This year, we decided to celebrate a day early and I was in charge of making the dinner, so I decided to change things up a bit and make a Shepherd's Pie, with a Garlic-Basil Mashed Potatoey Twist!

Meat and Veggie Mixture

1 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil
1/2 Onion, diced
4 Carrots, chopped
3 Celery Stalks, chopped
1 Small Orange Bell Pepper, chopped
2 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Bag (frozen) Gardein Beefless Ground
2 Tbsp Annie's Naturals Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Dry Red Wine
1/2 Cup Water
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Sauce the onions, carrots, celery, pepper and garlic, with a little oil, until all the veggies are tender and start to brown a little then add tomato paste, salt and pepper.

Add the (frozen) beefless ground and stir/cook until thoroughly heated. Add worcestershire sauce, red wine and water. Cook for another 5-7 minutes so that the wine can reduce and the flavors can meld.

Transfer mixture to an oven-proof (glass, metal or aluminum) baking dish and spread evenly.

(I used a 11 3/4 x 9 3/8 x 2 5/16 aluminum roasting pan, since I was bringing it to my mom's house)

Mashed Potatoes

2.5 lbs Red Potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp Trader Joe's Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
1/4 - 1/2 Cup of Soy Milk (dependent on desired texture)
1 Large Clove of Garlic, minced
Garlic Powder (to taste)
Basil (to taste)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees.

Fill a large pot with cold water, salt and potatoes and  bring to a boil.

Cook potatoes for about 25 minutes, until soft, and then drain and rinse. Return them to the pot or another large bowl. Add mayonnaise, soymilk, garlic, garlic powder and basil - and mash until desired texture is reached - then season with salt and pepper.

Spoon potatoes on top of meat and veggie mixture and spread evenly. Rake with a fork and then place in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes (or until the top starts to brown). Cut and serve.

(Tip: If you're bringing food to someone else's house to finish up, write the final cooking instructions on top of the container - it will make your life much easier)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cranberry Orange Relish

Hi everyone! I haven't abandoned Tracie Cooks, I've just taken a small hiatus. I do have a few new recipes to add and in honor of the holiday season, today I'm posting my mom's recipe for Cranberry Orange Relish. It's delicious, ridiculously simple and there's no cooking required!

"When I was growing up, my father always made home-made Cranberry-Orange Relish every Thanksgiving. Since he passed away, my husband and daughter have searched every store around to get the "right" kind of cranberry sauce for me (I cannot stand "jelly" cranberry sauce). This year, we got fresh cranberries and oranges and decided to recreate the sauce my father made!!! I was surprised that many of the on-line recipes had directions to "cook" ingredients. Well I made my father's version and to everyone's surprise, EVERYBODY liked it!!!! So here it is. Enjoy! ~Nancy"

Cranberry Orange Relish

1 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1 Large pit less orange
1 cup of sugar (add SLOWLY to taste) [Try Splenda or Equal for lower calories]

Wash cranberries and put them in a food processor. Zest some of the orange peel and then cut the orange into eights and put them into the food processor. Add sugar and then pulse the mixture until it's a relish-like consistency. That's all there is to it!

Note: I have a 14 cup food processor, so you may need to make two batches - add half the amount of cranberries and orange segments at one time - to fit into yours.