Ingredients:
· 1.5 – 2 lbs potatoes (suggest Yukon Gold or red)
· 1/4 – 1/2 stick butter (optional & to your liking)
· 1/2 cup milk (or a non-dairy sub)
· salt & pepper
· 4 garlic cloves (peeled and pressed)
· 1/4 onion, diced
· 3 carrots, peeled and diced small (similar to the size of peas or corn)
· 1 cup frozen peas
· 1 cup frozen corn
· 1 cup chopped green beans
· 1 lb ground meat (turkey, beef, or bison)
· 1 can of cream of mushroom or cream of celery
· 1 small block of cheese (cheddar or similar)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Peel and chop potatoes and boil them until tender. Drain and mash. When mashing, add the butter, milk, salt & pepper to your liking, and 2 cloves of pressed garlic.
While the potatoes are boiling, fry meat until no longer pink. Drain grease and layer bottom of square casserole dish. (I often use a 2 or 3 quart sauce pan by removing the handles and using it as a baking dish.) Mix cream of mushroom or celery into meat to moisten it.
Saute onion and green beans in a small pan. Add a tablespoon of water to pan if the veggies are getting too brown before they’re soft OR use lower heat and cook longer. Once softened, mix in bowl with carrots, peas, corn, salt, pepper, and other two pressed garlic cloves. Add that mix as the next layer (on top of meat in dish).
Lastly, spread the mashed potatoes on top of the veggies. Smooth all of the way to the edges so no veggies are seen. This creates a barrier that keeps the moisture from escaping the lower layers. If you don’t need all of the potatoes, you can save some for another purpose.
Slice the cheese into thin slices (like you’d eat on a cracker), and make one layer of cheese on top of the mashed potatoes.
Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes. Cheese should be melted and start to brown.
*For a non-dairy option, use non-dairy milk or chicken broth in place of milk in potatoes. To replace cream of mushroom, sauté another ½ onion and ¼ head of cabbage, salt and pepper. Once they are soft, puree them and use that as a cream. Then skip the cheese on top. It’s still really yummy without cheese. Of course, you can always use your favorite non-dairy cheese as a substitute also.
*For vegetarian option, replace meat with a meat substitute. Broken veggie patties are an easy sub.
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