Fiesta Style Shepherd's Pie

Finally the weather has gotten cold here in Florida.  On these frosty days, I really enjoy eating something warm and comforting.  You'll see in my cookbook that I love "pies" - dessert pies, casserole dinner pies and more.  On Monday I began with the idea of making "shepherd's pie" but then decided at the last minute to give it a Mexican flair.  Here is the tasty end result:






Fiesta Style Shepherd's PieAdapted from Lynda's Recipe Box

(Serves 5)

1 pound of ground turkey
4 to 5 medium red potatoes - boiled, peeled and cut up
1 can of green beans, drained (I grinded mine up in a food processor)
1 can (15 oz) of tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) of corn, drained
1/2 cup of spinach, pureed
1/2 cup of carrots, pureed or shredded
1/2 cup of reduced fat shredded cheese
1/2 packet (envelope) of taco seasoning mix
3 tbsp of reduced fat milk
2 tbsp of light butter
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium size sauce pan, boil the potatoes until tender, about ten minutes or until a fork can be inserted easily into them.  I used four but would select five next time to better cover the food.





Meanwhile generously grease a skillet with cooking spray.  Brown the ground turkey with onion powder, garlic powder and oregano.  Drain any grease or fat if needed.  Add in the drained can of green beans (I chose to puree mine since my family has texture issues with some foods and chunks).  Place the pureed spinach, carrots and tomato sauce inside the skillet.  Stir and simmer for about five minutes.  Then add in the drained can of corn and half the packet (envelope) of taco seasoning mix.  (Cook's Note: You can reserve the other half of the taco seasoning to make guacamole dip.  Recipe is in my cookbook).  Let the meat and vegetable mixture cook for another five minutes.  Then set aside to slightly cool. 




Check out the mixture!  You cannot even see the hidden veggies inside except for the corn!  :-) 

While the meat is simmering, you can peel and mash your boiled potatoes.  Place the peeled potatoes in a medium size bowl.  Mash them with the 3 tbsp of milk and 2 tsbp of butter.  Add a dash of salt and pepper.  Potatoes should have a creamy but slightly stiff texture to them.  Set aside.

Generously grease a 2 qt rectangular pan with cooking spray.  Place the meat and veggie mixture at the bottom of the pan.  Spread it out as evenly as possible.  Then spread your mashed potatoes on top covering all the meat.

It will look like this:




Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Then carefully remove from oven and sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top.  Bake for another five minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let the pie cool for about five minutes before cutting and serving.  Enjoy! 






(Cook's Note: I am currently testing out the freezing process for this pie.  I think it's going to work since the potatoes are mashed.  But I will report back once the testing is complete.  Often potatoes do not freeze well.  They break down and become mush when frozen and defrosted.  That has been the case in potato salad and other types of potatoes I have tried to freeze.  We'll see if this one works out!  I'll report back here in a few days with how the results came out for me and any suggestions I have for freezing leftovers of this meal!)