I've been doing a lot of indulgent cooking, but I have strayed from my commitment to indulgently healthy cooking. I don't think those two have to be mutually exclusive. I also generally disagree with the movement to use food-like substances to recreate indulgent favorites as lower calorie meals. Enter Clean Eating. I love this magazine. I love what they stand for. I have committed myself to turn to it more often this year for specific recipes and to reinforce the Clean Eating philosophy whenever I cook.
This week, I made the Shepherd's Pie from the Comfort Food issue. I made it somewhat less healthy by using 85/15 organic grass-fed beef instead of ground turkey, but I've been craving beef recently so I went with it. I also substituted butternut squash for the carrots because I had some extra squash to use up. Finally, I upped the garlic because rarely does a recipe meet my hands without some extra garlic thrown in to the mix.
In general, I really liked this recipe. It was filling and comforting and still tasted clean. My husband made his usual critique - it would taste better with curry powder or Asian spices of some kind. It is not spicy, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have nice flavor. I may try an Asian-inspired version to complement my meat loaf one of these days, but for now, this recipe will do.
Clean Eating Shepherd's Pie with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)
- 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, whole, plus 1 clove garlic minced, divided
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- 1 lb organic grass-fed ground beef (or lean ground turkey breast)
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 butternut squash, chopped (or 3 medium carrots, halved and sliced into half moons)
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Bring potatoes and whole garlic cloves to boil in a pot of water set over high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Mash potatoes and garlic with a potato masher (or your favorite mashing device) until smooth. Add buttermilk and chives and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- While water is boiling, heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef or turkey and cook, stirring often and breaking meat into small pieces with wooden spoon. Cook until just done, about 8 minutes. Drain and discard fat, set aside.
- Heat 2 tsp oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, squash, celery and rosemary and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add reserved meat, broth and tomato paste and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas.
- Transfer mixgture to a shallow 2-quart baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes in an even layer. Run a fork over top of mashed potatoes in both directions or swirl with the back of a spoon. Brush top with remaining 1 tsp oilve oil.
- Bake in oven until filling is bubbling and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.