Jamaican Me Crazy

Ok... confession time.

For as much as I make fun of my mom's Shepherd's Pie, I actually like it.  A lot.  So much that I've made a couple different vegetarian versions of hers.  They were good, but not like hers, they were all missing that secret ingredient only moms can add (Hint:  it's love)

So... the other day I was brainstorming a new version.  Coincidentally, it was cold and snowy, and I was thinking of a line from Jimmy Buffett's Boat Drinks:  "Lately, newspaper mentions cheap air fare, I gotta to fly to Saint Somewhere" and it hit me...

Jerk Shepherd's Pie!

A quick survey of what I had on hand revealed I had all necessary ingredients, so cooking commeneced.  It turned out better than I expected - sweet, spicy, and very filling.  Carol loved it, and she's finicky as anything  It only lacked one thing, mom's special ingredient.

Here's how I made it - feel free to improvise with what you have on hand.

Jerk Shepherd's Pie

1 12 oz bag Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles
1 small onion, chopped
1 16 oz bag frozen mixed veggies
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup Caribbean jerk sauce (I used World Harbors)
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese.
1 tbs Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375.  Heat oil in a large skillet, then add crumbles and onions and saute until onions soften and brown slightly.  Stir in the jerk sauce, mushrooms, veggies, salt & pepper and cook about 5 minutes more.  Spoon the mixture into a 9x5 baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese.  Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over this (Note:  This works best if they are warm.  Cold mashed potatoes don't spread very well) and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes or until it's heated all the way through.

That's it, makes about 6 servings.  Douse it with some Pick-a-Peppa or other hot sauce of your choice and dig in. You'll be glad you did.

Simple Pasta Sauce

Ok, first off this isn't going to be one of those fancy cooking blogs where more time is spend composing and setting up pictures than is actually spent making the food. Unless someone wants to gift me with a Canon EOS 7D.  Then we'll talk f-stops and apertures.  Or go see my friend Leigh for a gifted camera-slinger. 

This is a simple pasta sauce, suitable for vegetarians, vegans, or anyone who likes pasta.  Seriously, as long as you have some basic knife skills and can work a can opener, you're good to go.

First step - gather the ingredients.  You will need:

1 - 28oz can whole tomatoes.  I like Muir Glen Fire Roasted
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste.  Again Muir Glen
3 cloves of chopped garlic - more or less to taste.  I used two since Carol doesn't like a whole lot of garlicky goodness
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbs. chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried.
3 tbs. chopped fresh basil
Olive oil
Sugar (vegan sugar is available or use Stevia)
Salt

Got all that?  Good.  Now, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a good-sized saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and salt to taste.  Saute until the onions are getting a little soft, but be careful to not burn the garlic or else you'll have to start over, because that will taste nasty.  Trust me.

Open the can of tomatoes and start grabbing them out.  You can use your (hopefully recently washed) hands since you're going to crush those suckers into the saucepan anyway.  Or you can be a wimp and fish them out with tongs.  Either way, hold it in your hand over the saucepan and squeeeeeeeeeze them all into the pan.   The idea is to make little pieces from big chunks.  Do this with all of them, then dump the juice from the can into the pan, Stan.

Starting to look like a sauce now, right?  A bit runny, but it's getting there.  Now, add in the oregano, maybe 2 tsp of sugar to knock back the acid a bit, and the tomato paste.  Stir that up good until the paste is all incorporated and the sauce is nice and thick.  Make sure it's all heated through and toss in the basil. 

You're done.  This stuff will taste better than anything you can get out of a jar, and you can tweak it how you want.  Throw in some roasted red peppers, more garlic, olives, mushrooms, whatever strikes your taste buds.  I tossed in a 1/2 bag of Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles that we had in the freezer and served it over whole-wheat penne.

Yum.

Hi There

Hi! This is the first post in my year-long experiment of eliminating red meat and poultry from my diet. Fish, dairy, and eggs are ok, and of course tofu/seitan/tempeh and many of the products from Morningstar Farms, Quorn, & Boca, among others.

Drop in from time to time and see how I'm doing, offer suggestions/praise/encouragement/, check out recipes and experiments, and product reviews.

Peace!