Vegan Cottage Pie

 

Vegan Cottage Pie. It’s the lamb loving version of the traditional comfort dish, Shepherd’s Pie.

 

I just got back from a California Christmas. I spent a little over a week in Carlsbad and San Diego. It was cold. Like trying to go for a run at 9 am and getting a brain freeze / lungs frost over cold. Okay, I know southern California is nothing like North Dakota on a sunny December morning but for me, it was cold. Mind you I am now an official Hawaiian. Tropic searching, sun seeking, sweater wearing on a 75 degree winter evening Hawaiian. I like to think that I would bounce back to my tough skinned mountaineering self, but this recent trip was not very reassuring. I was bundled in all sorts of layers from yoga pants… 🙂 yea I said it, to flannels, wool socks, jean jackets and puffy Patagonia wear. I loved it. I sound like I can’t handle the cold. I can’t, but I still love it.

 

 

The scenery was simply amazing. I loved getting to see vast open skies and brown meadows that lead to snowy mountains in the distance. I turn around and see grassy cliff sides towering over deep blue ocean. I felt a sense of being home. It was comforting, especially being Christmas time without my family. This was the second Christmas of my 26 years around the sun that I was not with the Vernon clan. It never quite feels like Christmas when you are playing grown up and not with your parents and siblings, but it was wonderful nonetheless. That feeling of homesick I take as a reminder of being appreciate of what you have in life. Of all the love that greets you every morning from near and far and the potential each of us holds to give back, to make the world a litter brighter.

O, and lest I forget, the Mexican food. So many tacos. Soooooooooooooo many. I had shrimp tacos, veggie tacos, rolled tacos, taquitos, ahi tacos, breaded mahi tacos, and lots of guacamole. It tasted out of this world, but man when you aren’t used to eating that many tacos at once, you feel a little weighed down. Those are heavy little suckers. So I am feeling happy to be home in my own kitchen and whipping up some cozy meals packed with veggies of all kinds to recuperate from the Holidays. Can anyone else relate?

The Holidays definitely inspired this Vegan Cottage Pie. I have been craving the winter comfort foods and hearty vegetables but still wanting to have lighter meals as Christmas can mean a lot of pies and apparently, for me, tacos.

 

 

This one pot dish is packed with flavorful lentils, grounding vegetables, a little tangy zip of sumac, and deliciously creamy sweet potato on top. I even added roasted then pureed beet to the sweet potato mash to add that punch of color. I can’t help it. I love colors and beets. This has all the favorite parts of Shepherd’s Pie just a little more veggie friendly.

 

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