The last skillet gardener's pie that I made was so delicious that I knew I wanted to do it again. However, when I told Brad about it, he thought it sounded weird and told me how they make their shepherd pie. That got the old wheels to turning and so I modified his recipe to do a changeup. Here's what I did.
I prepared the mashed potatoes just like last time. This time, instead of being on top, they are on the bottom of the pan. Then, for the veggies in the middle, I sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes and carrots and added tomato paste, and frozen corn, lima beans, and peas. I also had some leftover green beans that I cooked a couple of days ago so I threw them in the pot too. This time, instead of rosemary and thyme, I used Italian seasoning and parsley. I threw in enough liquid (part water and part veggie broth) and let the veggies simmer until they were tender.
Once they had cooked down and were thick and hearty, I put that mixture on top of the mashed potatoes.
Then, I had figured out how to make biscuits a few weeks ago using a little flax meal and water instead of oil. I used regular all purpose flour, some baking powder so they would rise, a little salt, the flax meal mixture and enough soy milk to make it the right consistency. I spooned the biscuit dough on top of the veggie mixture and then baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes until the biscuits were brown.
This was hearty, healthy, and delicious with very minimal fat. I started to add some Boca Crumbles but changed my mind. We don't eat many faux meats these days.
While we were eating, I was thinking about making a fajita pie using black beans, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and salsa, seasoned with some cumin and topping it with corn tortillas or some polenta - or maybe even cornbread! That could be interesting too, especially with a nice dollop of guacamole on top!
It's just hard to beat a good stir fry. We found some brown rice in the frozen section at Kroger. That makes it even faster and easier. This skillet had onions, green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, green beans, pineapple and spinach. We topped it off with a little duck sauce and ate til we couldn't eat anymore. Leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Yummy.
So yesterday I mentioned black bean chili with a cornbread top. I've had it on my mind since then so today was the day. Even though it was hot outside, we turned the thermostat down a degree or two and had chili anyway. This was delicious. I made my usual chili - a slightly smaller batch than usual - and added some whole kernel corn to the recipe this time. Then, when it had simmered and the beans were tender, I stirred up a batch of cornbread, poured it on top of the chili, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees til the cornbread was brown - probably 20-30 minutes I guess, I really didn't time it. (Recipes are in the links.)
The last skillet gardener's pie that I made was so delicious that I knew I wanted to do it again. However, when I told Brad about it, he thought it sounded weird and told me how they make their shepherd pie. That got the old wheels to turning and so I modified his recipe to do a changeup. Here's what I did.
