Skillet Gardener's Pie
--EV, Food Philosopher and Potato Lover
I have a confession to make, the kind of deep dark secret that I would tell only a very close friend, preferably a non-judgmental one who doesn't cook or care about food. Here goes: For the first several years of her life, the only mashed potatoes I regularly cooked for my daughter were the kind that come powdered in a box. Shocking, I know. Even more shocking: She loved them, or thought she did. She often ate them as a snack when she was hungry for something substantial, and as she got older, she learned to make them for herself. I'm not proud of this, and in my defense, I tried to buy the "good" kind, the ones without extra, non-potato ingredients. But the fact remains that for years, E thought that mashed potatoes came out of a box.It's not that I never made real mashed potatoes, but apparently until recently they didn't make much of an impression. But then a couple of things happened. First, "Seaside Cakes Nights" became a family tradition. Our local natural food store and restaurant, Rainbow Grocery, started serving these delicious tofu-based, seaweed flavored croquettes (similar to my "crab cakes") as their special every Thursday. Along with the seaside cakes come coleslaw and real mashed potatoes drizzled with a light gravy. The restaurant is open for lunch only, but leftovers go to the deli counter in the store where we pick up a complete meal every Thursday night. We're all addicted, and hardly a Thursday goes by that we don't splurge on this meal. (It's Thursday as I write this, so you know what's on the menu tonight!)
Sometime after this Thursday tradition started, E went into the kitchen to make herself a snack of instant mashed potatoes. It didn't take more than one mouthful before she noticed that, "Hey Mom, these things don't have any flavor!" She never finished that plate of potatoes and hasn't wanted instant potatoes since.
So these days, I mash a lot of potatoes. I buy the Yukon golds and mash them with the skins on, to keep all the fiber and vitamins. I don't add any any margarine, just a little soymilk and some of the potato cooking water, and you know what--we all like them better than the ones from Rainbow. My time-saving trick is to use my KitchenAid stand mixer to do the mashing--it's quick, and they come out lump-free. (My other confession is that this is about the only thing I use my KitchenAid for, despite the promise I made to my husband when he gave it to me for my birthday last year to use it to make bread. It's become the world's most expensive potato masher.)

Anyway, that was a long digression, the only point of which is this: My daughter loves mashed potatoes. So, when she saw me making them last night, she got all excited and started dancing around. But then she took a look in the skillet simmering on the stove and said, with a disgusted intonation that only a child can muster, "What is that?!" I ignored the tone and explained to her the concept of shepherd's pie, a traditional English dish of meat (generally lamb) and vegetables baked with a topping of mashed potatoes. But, I went on, since I was making a vegan version, I was calling it a Gardener's Pie. And I wasn't going to bake it but make it much more quickly on top of the stove. "Well, whatever," she snorted. "It looks yucky, and I'm just going to eat the mashed potatoes off the top."
Somewhere along the line, her plans changed. I think it was when I was taking the photo at the top, of the pie in the spoon. She asked if she could have what was on the spoon after I finished shooting it, I agreed, and she got herself a plate. Pretty soon, she was back with her plate, asking for more. By the third time she helped herself, she was exclaiming that this was her New Favorite Dish, fourth in line behind lasagna, mac and cheese, and sushi. Now that's rare praise! But the kid has good taste. We all loved it so much that it's going on the regular dinner rotation, and it may even supplant Seaside Cakes.

Skillet Gardener's Pie
(printer-friendly version)
I used kidney beans here because I like their flavor and texture in this dish. But feel free to substitute about 1- 1/2 cups of any cooked beans or lentils. Or, if faux meats are your thing, rehydrate some TVP, crumble up a couple of Boca burgers, or chop up some seitan and use it instead.
2 pounds Yukon gold or red potatoes
1/2 cup soy milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced, leaves minced and reserved
8 ounces mushrooms, diced
2 cups fat-free vegetable broth
16 ounces kidney beans, cooked
2 cups green beans, cut in 1" pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tsp. dried)
1/4 teaspoon sage
2 cups baby spinach leaves, packed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water (or veg. broth)
extra rosemary for garnish
Scrub the potatoes and cut them into cubes. (I leave mine unpeeled, but if you want you can peel them before dicing.) Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Reserve a cup of their cooking water, if possible, and drain. Place in a large bowl, add the soymilk, and mash until smooth, adding a little of the potato-cooking water if they seem too dry. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and set aside in a warm place.
While the potatoes are cooking, make the "pie" filling. Spray a large non-stick or cast iron skillet with canola oil. Heat it on a medium-high burner and add the onions. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and sauté for 3 more minutes.
Add the vegetable broth, kidney beans, green beans, and herbs. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes and all vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste (I added a little hickory smoke salt). There should still be some liquid in the pan, but if it has become too dry, add a little of the potato-cooking water. Add the spinach and stir until it's completely wilted. Mix the corn starch with the water until smooth, and add it to the pan. Cook, stirring, until mixture has thickened.
Spoon the potatoes evenly over the top of the filling and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. If potatoes have cooled, put the skillet under the broiler for a minute or two. Serve immediately while hot.
Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 272 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 56g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 46mg Sodium; 11g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core/ 5 Flex Points.
I don't usually post the complete nutritional information for my recipes, but I couldn't resist with this one. Take a look at the amount of potassium, fiber, Vitamin A, and folicin in one serving:
Nutritional info courtesy of MasterCook
What a delicious way to get your vitamins and minerals!
Labels: CORE, eat to live, gluten-free


























59 Comments:
Hahah--I used to love instant mashed potatoes as a kid too! My mom DID make "real" ones, but I could make the instant on my own...so good (or so I thought)!
Your pie looks amazingly good! No wonder E liked it!
Courtney
First, the pie looks fantastic! I really love your photography and presentation...I wish all of my meals looked as gourmet!
Second, what program is that where you calculate the nutritional information for your recipes? It looks quite advanced! Do you simply plug in the ingredients and it tells you the nutrition facts? It's really cool to see how many vitamins and minerals are in that recipe.
Wow, that looks delectible! I'm definitely going to have to try that one! Our family LOVES mashed potatoes. my mom used to make the best, at least I thought so, but my hubby likes mine better because I leave a few lumps, LOL! Anyway, thank you for all the wonderul and healthful recipes. Your hardwork and creativiity are very much appreciated! I'd love it if you had a cookbook, hint hint! ;)
Aimee
I just got instantly hungry. Love the 'new' name you've given it as well!
Susan, I had to take 5 minutes to tell you this!
I make mashed potatoes maybe 3 times a year even though I love them.
But this is one of those times! I was mashing them when your post came in! LOL
Your Gardener's Pie looks amazing!
It's called ("Pâté Chinois" here... "Chinese Pie" ?!? Nobody knows why :p)
it looks so good, Ed will love that! He used to eat the powdered potatoes...I love doing what my kids called rocky roads...full of lumps with about 6 garlic cloves thrown in and mashed with the potatoes....hand potato mixer so they come out lumpy!!!!! I use potato water, soymilk and whatever I am in the mood for..I will try this!!! See ya in Santa Rosa!!
Hey there, love the blog and that sure looks tasty. Just FYI, in the UK, we call vegetarian Shepherds Pie Shepherdess Pie. I do like your term as well, although that may be the better equivelent of Cottage Pie.
Shepherd's Pie = Lamb
Cottage Pie = Beef
Fisherman's Pie = fish and shellfish
This looks delicious! I'm always impressed by your recipes and love your blog. I do have a question, though - when do you add the baby spinach leaves? I don't see them mentioned in the directions.
Keep up the great work, Susan!
Hey, thanks for catching that! I did leave them out, but now I've added that line to the instructions.
Well, if that's the worst thing you ever have to confess, no worries! Great photos, and it looks delicious.
I love any and all non-meaty shepherd's pie recipes; can't wait to try this one out. Love the composition in your pictures as well.
About that KitchenAid ... use it for bread from this book -- http://tinyurl.com/3t67cv -- it really only takes a few minutes to put the bread together and then a few minutes to bake it and my family loves it.
I love my KitchenAid! And your blog!
Cathy in MN
I love it! And growing up we always made from scratch mashed potatoes so when we'd go some restaurant that had instant, it was like a big treat! Ha!
This was superb ... i made it right after i had read the recipe ... i'd always wanted to make a vegan version of shepherd's pie and this turned out wonderfully ... i used TVP instead of kidney beans and had some delicious results ... thank you.
oh, yum.
this looks so good right now.
my mom would also make me instant mashed potatoes.
they are totally a comfort food to me. ha.
Wow Susan, what a confession. Potatoes from a box? You? We never would have suspected. But you know, we all have our convenience foods, so I'm certainly not casting any stones!
I had to laugh at your description of your kitchen aid! Mine pre-dates my husband. I love the thing and use it often. Just be sure to hand-wash the dough hook and paddle attachments as the plastic coating will flake off after awhile if you put them in the dishwasher.
Jane of VeganBits.com
Hi Susan,
FUnny post about instant mashed potatoes. I make mine quite often. I usually mash caramelised onions or boiled carrots (or even better, parsnips) with the potatoes. And when serving, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top does the magic. Sometimes, I just eat it as it is... no fuss.
Looks great! I loved S. Pie when I was a carni, and glad now that I can again eat a reasonable facsimile thereof. One question though, are the 'shrooms essential? I'm deathly allergic.
One more question: where did that nutritional information program come from????
Hi Susan--
This looks delicious and so comforting--I'm definitely looking forward to making it. Yukon golds with their skins on prepared in any number of ways are my favorite potatoes, hands down. Your story about E and the instant mashed potatoes reminded me of my little sister when we were growing up hearing my mom talk about making something "from scratch." So one day she asked my Mom to show her the box of "scratch"--I guess she assumed that it came in a box like a lot of things in the kitchen. :)
Thanks for posting another great recipe.
I am also very curious what program it is you are using for your recipes.
I do something similar and call it farmer's pie -- basically, I toss a bunch of veggies with Isa's chickpea gravy and top them with mashed potatoes (I skip the soymilk).
I loved your story! Probably because I loved instant mashed (and real mashed, too!) from early childhood. I used to consider them like chips or sweets- a treat!
This pie looks and sounds great! Thanks as usual for the inspiration!
Anonymous, just substitute about 2 cups of any chopped vegetable for the mushrooms.
The software is an inexpensive program called MasterCook. It's primarily for keeping track of recipes, but I use it to get nutritional info. See my FAQs page for more info about it.
That is a gorgeous skillet pie! We lurve our mashed potatoes (well, all kinds of potatoes). I'm half Irish half Ashkenazic, so there ya go. We live on 'em.
Potatoes come out of a box?
Who knew? ;)
This looks 100% delicious!
I really like hardy vegan dishes like this one & am always looking for another version of "Shepherd's/Gardner's Pie" to try, so thanks!
And don't worry about the boxed mashed potatoes, I think eating them was some kind of prerequisite for living through the 80's & 90's. (That & using ungodly amounts of Aqua Net hairspray!)
LOL!
This looks absolutely delicious. I'll definitely be trying it soon!
what program do you use to calculate the nutrition facts?
that pie looks SO delicious.
when i was a teen, i broke my jaw and lived on ensure, smoothies, and instant mashed potatoes. yikes!
it definitely turned me off to potatoes from a box forever.
Mmm, that looks delicious!
Potatoes make me dance around too! And your photos are beautiful.
OK, YUM YUM YUM!!! I might have to make that tonight!! And I confess to buying the mashed potatoes from a box as well... they are easy when I am in a pinch and everyone likes them haha... now I may have to make your potatoes instead!
Gosh! I used to love sheperd's pie during my meat-eating days. I would love to make a gardener's pie one day. It's comfort food all the way.
I make a version of "Shepherd's pie" with sweet potatoes mashed as the topping and Cuban black beans. It's like eating candy for dinner. Yours looks beautiful and delicious. I love the name change as well.
I am going to have to try this, it looks so good! And also you've been tagged in my blog.
Looks so yummy! And it even has some calcium... which brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask. What are your family's favorite sources for calcium?
Yummy. I am thinking that this one might be a good one for your stint at the McDougall program chef series since E and I agree it is a family friendly keeper :o)
I have been known to use the potatoes from a pouch on occasion. And it is sad, but the little darlings love them. Great recipe...I am going to bookmark it for the dinner rush come fall and school nights.
Looks very nice! Mashed potatoes are a fave. Indian dish but I have tried them with rajma!
Mashed potatoes are my favorite food in the world. When I was a kid I'd get them every time I went to the Piccadilly.
And that's a great name for Shepherd's Pie, which I make a lot. (I've tried various vegan ingredients, but this looks really good.)
I made this last night and my family loved it. The fresh rosemary really makes the recipe. Tonight I made your spinach artichoke pie, and I just have to RAVE about it! It was so delicious. My 6 year old daughter who eats like a bird had two helpings and my 3 year old son who HATES tofu gobbled his up too. I have made traditional spanokopita fairly recently and I can honestly say this tasted better. And my meat and cheese loving husband agreed. You might consider this recipe for the McDougall weekend. Thanks for your blog!
I like your dish and the nutritional analysis is quite nice too. The beans in the recipe are loaded with fiber and folate and help lower LDL "lousy" cholesterol.
Eating this was like eating a comfort food from a long lost recipe. Even my younger son -- who claims he doesn't like most vegetables, though he'll eat them under the "right" circumstances -- loved this.
Definitely a McDougall demo dish.
mmm have you tried using mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes? Delicous, and cuts back on the carbs and calories
Wow what gorgeous photos and plateware! No wonder your pics are showing up in books:) This looks lovely, even though I don't really like potatoes (as my blog says, I grew up on rice and beans and prefer rice over potatoes pretty much all the time). Occasionally I will have some mashed ones, and if I had this pie in front of me Im sure I would do it justice!
I just made this for my 15 year old brother (and myself of course). He loves anything involving potatoes, so needless to say, it was a hit! I don't like mushrooms, so I used Morningstar Grillers Crumbles instead, and also used the kidney beans. The amount of spices were a little too much for us, I reduced them, and honestly will probably reduce them more next time...but I still really liked it!
I had some leftover "Nacho Cheaze" in the fridge, so I mixed it in with the pie and it was soooo yummy!!
I just had to tell you my family loved this recipe. Their only complaint was that I didn't make enough! :) I substitued zuchinni for the green beans since the ones at the store didn't look very good and it came out really nice. Thanks so much for all the great recipes - I can't wait to try another one :).
Wow! This is amazing. and I love the nutritional info, I know you don't do that on all recipes, but, it sure would be awesome!
Keep up the great blog!
This is the first thing I've made from your blog and I'm glad! It was really good. I did omit mushrooms (yuck!) and used a bean medley (all I had!)
It's definitely more prep time than what I usually cook (and more pots and pans) but I need more food like this in my life!
Mmm...This looks so yummy! I'm going to have to give it a try. I'm pregnant and all things with potatoes sound great right now!
...mine turned out more like...potato slop soup...
:(
I just made this and am eating it as I type. It's so good! This was a great way to use up some of the fresh green beans from my garden.
I just made this and it was great! Even with the modifications, I (and my toddler, wow!) enjoyed this immensely. I had to use frozen green beans since I didn't have fresh. I also omitted the celery since I was out but I did add a little more carrot to compensate. We didn't have any spinach either, so I didn't add it. This was a great way to use up some potatoes and carrots that were close to expiration!
This was so incredibly good. I didn't use veg broth and it still had some much flavor. Thank you so much for this veggie filley delight!
We had this for dinner this evening - very good! My husband said that it tasted like "roast"; I believe he was trying to express that the seasonings reminded him of roast.
Anyway, this is the second recipe that I've made from your site (Chili Mac was a HUGE hit), and I can't wait for your next creation.
Thank you for sharing, and I look forward to the next offering from your kitchen!
Not sure if you're aware, but someone posted your recipe with your photo on recipezaar. You probably do know about it already :P
http://www.recipezaar.com/327055
I am sorry for the confusion. My DH found this recipe and posted as a favor to me. He was supposed to leave it as a private recipe, but it is too confusing I guess. We found this for a friend that was fasting from all animal products. I will have the photos removed as soon as possible.
Absolutely delicious! Very, very satisfying - I would recommend this dish when the omni's come to dinner. I added morningstar crumbles (although they're not really healthy), and used asparagus instead of spinach (didn't have spinach). My very picky 8 y/o daughter even loved it! She came into the kitchen when I was making it and said "what smells so good?!). This will definitely become a regular - especially when company comes.
You inspired me to make mashed potatoes for my son last night with just a little veggie broth and garlic salt- and they turned out super yummy!(and nice for Mom's non-dairy tummy)
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