Mushroom and Artichoke Shepherd's Pie with Mashed Potato Crust

It's no secret that I love comfort foods.

I love a big, steamy bowl of something topped with gorgeous mashed potatoes that fills my belly and makes me feel like a kid again.

Anything with mashed potatoes seems to do the trick for me.

That always feels like a big hug in my belly.

That sounds weird.

Anyway, what I really love is trying to take a classic comfort food and make it semi healthy.

Then, I'm really in love.

A vegetarian shepherd's pie is what's on the menu for tonight.

I think I've already posted some sort of shepherd's pie on here somewhere, but this one was so 

good, I couldn't resist sharing it with you guys.

And by 'you guys' I mean all three of you who are reading this.

:p

This type of meal is a great 'make ahead' meal, too.

You can assemble everything, down to the last detail and then cover it up and put it in the fridge until

you're ready to bake it and serve it.

I absolutely love those kinds of meals.

It's all about the time management, people.

With three kids and a crazy busy schedule, it's always nice to have dinner made and waiting for me, instead of the other way around.

It's not often that happens, but when it does, man does that feel amazeballs!

I recommend everyone try it... at least once!

So why not start right here, right now, with this here meal.

As with every other meal, I always try and serve a salad alongside it.

That's how my Moma did it, and gosh darn, that's how I'm doing it!

My salads just seem a tad fancier than the good ol' iceberg that Moma had.

If it wasn't tabouli, it was an iceberg lettuce salad.

And believe me, there ain't nothing wrong with the old iceberg.

It's delicious, and a comfort food in and of itself!

Come to think of it, do they even sell iceberg lettuce anymore?

I can't remember the last time I saw it in the store.

It's all about the wild rocket and mixed greens now.

We're so fancy now, right?

Note to self...

Check for iceberg lettuce next grocery trip and try and make it sexy again.

Oh yeahhhh.

Until then, here is the (pretty much) how-to on getting some of this down home comfort food deliciousness on your table and into your own mouth!

Cremini Mushroom and Artichoke Heart Shepherd's Pie

2 lbs. cremini mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, or 1 can artichoke hearts ( I get mine from Trader Joe's)

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoon herbs de provence (if you don't have that, you can use 1 teaspoon dried thyme)

1 yellow onion, diced

olive oil

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups veggie stock

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper 

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, put about 4 tablespoons olive oil and add in the mushrooms.

Saute the mushrooms until they caramelize.  Add salt and and pepper and remove from the pan into a side dish.

In the same saute pan, add in the artichoke hearts with some a couple more tablespoons olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute them until they caramelize as well.  Put them in the side dish with the mushrooms and set aside.

Put a few more tablespoons olive oil into the saute pan and add in the carrots, celery and onions.  Season them with salt and pepper.

Saute for about 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add in the garlic and herbs de provence and saute for another 3-4 minutes.  

Put the mushrooms and artichokes into the pan with the other veggies and mix all around.

Make sure there is at least 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and sprinkle in the flour all over the veggies.

Cook that around for about 1 minute on medium heat and slowly add all the veggie stock while mixing with your spoon or spatula.

The mixture will start to thicken right away.  Next, add in the milk while continuing to stir your veggie mixture.  Keep adding liquid until the mixture can coat the back of a wooden spoon and when you swipe a finger across the wooden spoon, the sauce holds its shape (meaning it doesn't come back together).

I hope that makes sense.

The mixture won't reach it's full thickening potential until it comes to a boil... a very low boil.

Once it does, turn the heat down and add in the peas and corn.

Check again and season with salt and pepper.

Pour it into a baking dish and prepare to have your dish get even more luxurious by a mashed potato topping.

Mashed Potato Crust

4-5 russet idaho potatoes, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup low fat sour cream

1 cup buttermilk 

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until fork tender.

Drain and put back into the same pot.

Mash it (or put it through a ricer if you don't like lumps) and add in the butter, sour cream, buttermilk, garlic cloves and salt and pepper.

If the mixture seems too dry, add some more buttermilk.

I will also sometimes add some olive oil to moisten it.

Put dollops of the potatoes all over the mushroom and artichoke filling and using a spatula, carefully spread the mashed potatoes all over the top of the veggies.  Top with a little bit of cheddar cheese and a lot bit of parmesan reggiano. 

It will create a beautiful and delicious crust on the potatoes and you will think you will have died and gone to heaven when you bite into that baby.

Serve with a (iceberg?) salad and you will love everything about this entire dish.

ev.

ree.

thing.

OC Family write up...

Check out my flattering little feature over at OC Family.
I was honored to have Amanda do this piece on me.
And the fact that I inspired her to cook a bit more healthfully and naturally...
Well, that excited me a little more than I care to admit!

Bobby and Giada via Rachael

I saw a promo that Rachael Ray was going to have Bobby Flay and Giada DeLaurentiis on her show the other day and I was so excited.

I mean like, ridiculous excited.

I was literally smiling from ear to ear.
Set my timer for my DVR to record the show.
Checked and double checked again that it was really set up correctly.

It was sad, really.

And even though Rachael Ray BUGS me beyond belief, I will still watch her occasionally, if she's on the Food Network.

 Rarely, but occasionally I will catch a show.

Pretty much the only thing I watch on TV (when I actually have time to watch TV) about 90% of the time, is the Food Network.
 So whatever is playing when I'm watching, if I've got the time to watch, I'll watch it.

After all it is cooking food, right?
And that's really all I care about anyway.

I never watch her show on regular TV, but the other day for some reason it was on and I saw that she was having a family episode with Bobby Flay and Giada DeLaurentiis.

And I love me some Bobby Flay.

And Giada?

She's so bubbly and cute and... smiley.

They are a couple of my food idols.
And I love to know about people's 'behind the scenes'.
That's definitely the voyeur in me.
Anyway, I watched it and I loved it.
Then I made my husband watch it with me again that night.
He loved that.
(insert sarcasm here)

Check out the promo.

It was def worth the watch for this Food Network addict.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Quinoa Stuffed Bell Pepper

I am a BIG fan of stuffing things.

Like saaaayyyyy... my face (for example).

I love stuffing my face with all kinds of delicious goodies.

Here is a recipe I put together for dinner for my fam and it was just delightful.

A perfect food for stuffing my face!

Even though I don't eat chicken, I still have a hard time just sauteing up some boring old chicken and  serving it up to the boys.

I just can't do it.

It's too boring!

It's like, against my religion or something.

So I'm always trying to think of different ways to make it fun and interesting.

I decided to stuff the chicken with some goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes.

It really sounds fancier than it is.

It is so easy to stuff a chicken breast.

I mean, c'mon.

Those breasts are just screaming to be stuffed.

It's like high school all over again.

Or was it junior high?

I can't remember now.

Regardless, this stuffed breast will not disappoint.

And paired with the stuffed bell pepper.

It's a wonderfully balanced meal and a total hit.

Super flavorful and after you assemble everything, you throw it all in the oven and bake it off.

Easy.

Peasy.

And it goes a little something like this...

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2 medium to large chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise 

4 tablespoons goat cheese

12 julienned pieces of sun dried tomatoes

4 basil leaves

Place the halved chicken breast on a piece of saran wrap.  

Cover it with another piece of saran wrap.

Take a meat mallot or something else you can bang it with, and start pounding out the chicken breast.

Not too hard so you break up the meat, but hard enough to start thinning it out.

When the chicken is nice and thin, put it to the side and season with salt and pepper.

Continue the same process with the remaining breasts.

To stuff them...

Lay out one breast.  Spread the goat cheese onto the lower middle section of the breast and top with a basil leaf.  Add 2-3 sun dried tomatoes slices on top of the basil. 

Roll the chicken breast up and away from you and tuck in the sides so the goat cheese doesn't spill out when you bake it.

It doesn't have to be perfect, but try and tuck the breast all under itself so there is no visibility of the filling.

Bake it at 400 for about 20 minutes, depending on your oven.

It's seriously some good eats!

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Pepper

2 Bell Peppers, preferably red, yellow or orange, cut lengthwise in half, seeded

2 cups quinoa, cooked 

1 lb. chopped mushrooms, cooked

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 carrot, shredded

1 teaspoon allspice

2 cups chopped spinach, frozen, squeezed and drained
1 cup parmesan reggiano

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 large beefsteak tomato, sliced
3/4 cup veggie or chicken broth

In a medium saute pan over medium high heat, heat 4 tablespoon olive oil and toss in the chopped onion.  Salt and pepper. 

Move that around for about 4 minutes.  Add the shredded carrots.  Salt and pepper.  Saute for 2 minutes.  Add in the allspice and chopped mushrooms.  Salt and pepper them.

Saute for about 7 minutes on medium high heat.  Toss in the garlic.  Saute for about 3 minutes more.

Put the spinach in there and give it a final couple minute toss around.

Put the entire mixture into a large bowl and let cool.  Add in the quinoa and chopped herbs and mix thoroughly.  If you want you can add any cheese you like at this point.  I added about 1/2 cup of parmesan reggiano to the mix.

Put the split and seeded bell peppers onto a baking sheet and coat them with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Stuff them with the quinoa mixture and top them with remaining parmesan cheese.
Put the sliced tomatoes on the baking sheet and place the bell peppers on top of each tomato slice.
Add about a 1/2-3/4 cup of veggie broth (or chicken broth) and cover with foil.
Let bake at 425 covered, for about 20 minutes.
Uncover and let bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until the peppers are roasted and softened. 

Serve with the stuffed chicken breast and VOILA!! 

A delicious and healthy dinner for your loved peeps.

Enjoy!!

We sure did.

Disclaimer:
The lighting for these pictures was HORRIBLE.
I know.
I'm still learning.
Everyday.
Trying to figure out how to get pretty pictures.
This one was a fail.
And I'm aware.
But I will keep on keeping on and hopefully my pictures will get better and prettier!

Spicy Scrambled Egg Sandwich on a Hash Brown 'Bun'

In my never ending quest to try and make something ordinary quite extraordinary, I came up with this little mini twist on a breakfast favorite.

We love doing breakfast together as family on the weekends since we have the luxury of being together on Saturdays and Sundays. Most weekends my husband is the breakfast chef.

I know... I am lucky that way.

A few Sundays ago I decided to give him the morning off and whipped up these bad boys for our enjoyment.

Basically you make eggs whatever way you like.

We prefer scrambled.

We are slightly boring that way.

I prefer to think of it as traditional.

Are scrambled eggs traditional?

Not sure, but they are up in here.

But you better believe that I spruced that baby up, lovely style.

I made a sandwich, if you will.

I grated a couple of peeled russet potatoes and piled little nests of them onto my preheated non stick pan with about 4 tablespoons of olive oil...

and if you're feeling extra spicy that morning, add a couple tablespoons of butter as well.

Butter, although not great for your body, simply magnificent for your taste buds.

Let those bad boys fry up for a good 7-8 minutes on medium to medium high heat (depending on your stove) till they are nice and brown.

Make sure you don't pat them down too much so they are still a bit fluffy and not

too gummy or dense.

Then flip and do the same on the other side.

I grated parmesan reggiano directly onto the cooked side of the hash brown and when the underside was cooked, I flipped it once more just to get a nice parmesan crust onto the hash brown.

Only let the parmesan cook for about 2 minutes into the hash brown so it doesn't burn.

It forms this incredible, delicious, nutty flavored crust onto the hash brown that is too good to miss.

Do the same on the other side.

Right when you take the finished hash browns out of the skillet, sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

More pepper, less salt.

Since the parmesan is salty.

If you don't use the parmesan crust step (which you totally don't have to do if you don't want) then make sure you sprinkle these babies liberally with salt and pepper.

You see...

Salt and potatoes are BFF's.

From like, way back in the 2nd grade.

They've loved each other for years.

So don't deny them their time together.

Lay one of the hash brown 'buns' down on your plate and place a thick slice of tomato on top.

Top the beautiful tomato with the eggs of your choice (scrambled, poached, sunny side up... however you're feeling it that morning).

I mix some salsa right into my scrambled eggs right before I cook them.

That's a tip straight from the Mr.

He can't cook much, but when breakfast comes... that man KILLS it!

I used 2 whole eggs and 3 egg whites for the two of us.

Mix in about 3 tablespoons of salsa and some fresh chopped scallions.

Finish that gorgeous little peach off with the crowning hash brown 'bun'.

Maybe grate a little extra parmesan on top and sprinkle some more freshly chopped scallions.

You can top these 'sandwiches' with anything you like, really.

Avocado would be amazeballs here, but sadly I didn't have any.

Olives, bell peppers, some kind of breakfast meat...

the world is your oyster.

Errr, the egg is your canvas?...

The potato is your starch?...

nevermind.

To finish it off,

I drizzled some hot sauce on top and all around the plate for some pretty and some delicious!

Try this next Sunday morning.

It's a little bit country and a little bit rock n roll.

Ya.

Uh huh.

That's right.

Coming soon...

my most coveted kitchen appliance yet...

the VITAMIX.

i have a feeling it's coming to my kitchen soon.

soon.

this thing can rip roar through anything you put inside of it.

it turns uncooked soybeans into soy milk.

serious.

i can't wait to get my hands on it.

oh the fun we will have!!

Lettuce Wrapped Fish Tacos

We have apparently entered the 'healthy food kick' phase here at Casa de Miller.

My husband has been working out and eating very carefully and deliberately (and boringly, I might add).

Don't get me wrong... it's great.

It's just stifling my creative process in the kitchen.

...

Daaaammmmnnn, that sounded snobby, right?!

Well, you get my point.

I can't just cook up any ol' thing that comes to mind if there is a certain someone trying to get all healthy and fit all up in my grill.

I have to meticulously make sure that each meal has a carb, a protein and a veggie.

Which really is generally how I cook our meals.

The thing is...

I don't like being told what to do.

Especially not in my kitchen!

I don't like having any limits in the kitchen.

I like to be free as a bird, to open my wings and flyyyyyy.

All the way down to Chinatown if I want.

And there are a lot of noodles in Chinatown.

Noodles are carb-a-licious.

Not the best idea for someone trying to eat balanced and proper.

I want to be able to make a good old fashioned comfort meal if that's where my knife takes me.

And I want to do it without having to make a separate meal for Mr. Man.

Because let's face it, there aren't a whole lot of veggies going on in my Mac n' Cheese!

Carbs are there, but the veggies,

eeehhhh notsomuch.

BUT..

even though I just took up about a half hour of your time venting about my hubby getting healthy (I know, I'm mean, right) I am ALWAYS up for a cooking challenge.

So in trying to avoid the boring and dreaded chicken, broccoli and brown rice menu that typically frequents every diet, I opted for something a little more flavorful.

Fish mother f-in tacos.

That's right.

I said it.

And they were mother f-in good.

I don't know why I keep saying mother f-in.

It's been a long and apparently angry kind of day.

Aaaaanywaysssssss.

These took me no time to put together. They were fast and (here's my favorite word) easy (!) and amazeballs.

Hubby loved them and they touched all of his requirements.

Carb - brown rice.

Check.

Protein - Seabass.

Check.

Veggie - tomatoes and lettuce.

Check.

Hells to the mother f-in yeah!

Sorry.

Here's the lo down.

Lettuce Wrapped Fish Tacos

1 pound wild caught seabass fillets, or any other fish you like.

1 head romaine lettuce, cleaned, patted dry and separated

1 tomato, diced

1/4 red onion, diced fine

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1 cup brown rice, cooked

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salsa

Avocado

Cilantro

Hot Sauce

Put seabass fillets in a pan and sprinkle with cumin, garlic powdeer and coriander.

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place under a broiler in the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until cooked through.

Meanwhile, separate the greens of the romaine lettuce from the crunchier bottom white part.

Pile all the green tops together. This is going to act as the tortilla. It's easier to roll like a taco without the white, crunchier part, but if you like you can leave them on.

Then, mix the brown rice with about 2 tablespoons prepared salsa of your choice.

When the fish is ready, flake a few pieces onto a piece of romaine.

Follow that with a few spoonfuls of the brown rice and salsa mixture.

Top with some freshly diced tomatoes, diced red onion, sour cream, avocado, cilantro and hot sauce.

Yum and enjoy.