Sunday, May 29, 2022

Recipe: Idaho Potato Braised Vegetable Shepherd's Pie


Idaho Potato Braised Vegetable Shepherd's Pie
5 stars

This recipe by Chef Jeff Mann was featured in Flavor & The Menu's weekly email and on their website. We had to try it because I trust Jeff (I worked with him in the past) -- plus I was looking for a lentil-based dish as we are still trying to eat more plant-based. The dish turned out GREAT; we'll definitely be making this again but with the tweaks below.

The recipe looks like it has a lot of steps, but it's actually quite easy and just takes some planned stovetop cooking time. 

Tips/Tweaks:
  • Halved the entire recipe -- it was still plenty of food for multiple meals
  • In addition, halved even more (so 1/4 of the recipe) the butter that we cooked the onions in
  • Added salt & pepper to the vegetable mixture
  • Used 25% less butter and cream for the potatoes
  • For the potatoes, the amount of salt seemed like a lot so we added what we thought it needed to taste
  • Didn't pipe the potatoes on top
  • Skipped the egg wash on top since the cheddar covered the potatoes
  • Need to use white cheddar next time (I had bought some but forgot!)

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Recipe: Spicy Poblano, Black Bean, and Quinoa Enchiladas


HalfBakedHarvest.com
4.6 stars

We're trying to eat more plant-based, and quinoa is one of the best grains that has protein in it! In these enchiladas, you can't even taste the quinoa!!! The dish was super easy to make -- but see tips below.

Ingredients: tortillas, quinoa, red enchilada sauce, black beans, poblano peppers, cilantro, sweet onion, limes, shredded cheddar, shredded pepper jack, garlic, jalapenos, ground cumin, extra virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Topping Ingredients: avocado, yogurt, pomegranate arils

Tips:
  • The filling is so good on its own -- we had a bit left over so froze it. We'll be eating this with chips for a future meal!
  • Needs double the amount of cheese both inside and on top.
  • The red enchilada sauce is pretty overpowering so you don't taste a lot of the great flavors inside the enchilada. That being said, it was really good and tasted like a restaurant beef enchilada with red sauce (but without the beef).
  • Added a "salad" of lettuce, tomato, cilantro and avocado on top. We skipped the pomegranate arils and yogurt.