Try my vegan bastardization of a beloved cultural cuisine, which works as a main course or as a fixing for your corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day. Disclaimer: I usually eyeball the ingredients and I like it salty, so I have probably underestimated just how much bouillon and marmite I put in there, so just be sure to season to your own taste. This is the basic idea but it’s pretty versatile. If you don’t want to put any Guinness or wine in there for example, you might try a can of diced tomatoes and Tapatío.
I’m sorry I didn’t include any pictures! It ends up looking pretty impressive even though it’s just lentils and potatoes.
I have also included an easy vegan soda bread. It’s basically a muffin, which I like because you don’t have to flour the counter or shape it into a loaf. Today I put some unfed sourdough starter in it and forgot the fake butter and it still turned out pretty good.
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Half a white onion (minced or diced)
3-5 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp Vegemite or marmite (or just more bouillon)
1-2 tsp bouillon
2/3 – ¾ cup Guinness or red wine
Thyme
Coleman’s mustard or mustard seeds
Bay leaf
cornstarch
2-3 cups prepared mashed potatoes
Bring 1 ¾ cup water and 1 cup lentils to a boil, add a bay leaf and a tsp of marmite/vegemite (or bouillon), lower the heat and cover, simmer for about 30 minutes, then remove from heat.
Start preparing your mashed potatoes whatever way you prefer. I like red or yellow potatoes because I don’t have to peel them, and I add nondairy milk and vegan butter when I mash, with an eye toward making it a spreadable consistency. And salt and pepper.
While the potatoes are boiling, in another pan (I use my cast iron pan) sautee the onions and garlic (you can add celery if you want). Add the thyme and the mustard. Make sure to sautee the onions until they’re pretty soft and cut them really small. Otherwise your husband will pick them out and put them into a little annoying pile on his plate and you might take it really personally. Then add the Guinness and the lentils, and simmer for a while until the liquid has reduced a bit. Add salt, pepper, more bouillon if you want.
In a small cup or bowl, combine 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp water and let it sit for a minute before stirring it into the lentil mixture. You can skip this if you want but it makes the pie more slice-able.
Preheat the oven to 400. Mash your potatoes, and then pour the lentils into a pie dish. To put the mashed potatoes on the top, I like to use an ice cream scoop, and then use a rubber spatula to spread the potatoes until it is a nice thick layer on top of the lentils.
Bake it for about 15 minutes. If you want you can broil it at the end for a minute or so to brown the top. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.
Slice and serve!
Irish Soda Bread
1 cup/ 5 oz flour
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1 tsp white vinegar,
1tsp baking soda,
1 tsp salt,
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup raisins
2 tbsp melted nondairy butter, or vegetable oil
1-2 oz unfed sourdough starter (optional)
Combine milk and vinegar and let stand 5-10 minutes before mixing into the dry ingredients, mix in the cooled melted butter and the starter, if using.
Put dough in greased 6-in cake pan or a loaf tin, cut a cross in the top and bake at 350 for 45 min or until the top is brown.
Turn it out onto a cooling rack and cool before slicing.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!