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Quick and easy low carb shepherd's pie
Shepherd's Pie anyone?
I am always looking for a simple idea for a warm, hearty meal to fill my tummy and keep me on plan. Remember shepherd's pie? I personally love it and miss having it for dinner every once in a while. On a recent lunch trip to the local Irish Pub near my hometown, I saw it on the menu and immediately thought about a reduced carb alternative... not mashed potatoes, but mashed cauliflower!
A normal recipe for shepherd's pie might include mashed potatoes, chicken/beef broth, veggies (corn/green beans/peas/carrots or a mixture), onion, cream or cream cheese, ground beef, and maybe some shredded cheese on top. As you can tell, it is very easy to convert this all in one meal over to a LC dish by substituting a few items. If you are going to use chicken or beef broth, I would recommend making sure you get a reduced sodium variety. The major change you will need to make is to replace the mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower.
The basic method for making mashed cauliflower starts with taking a couple cups of cauliflower florets and boiling them until they are soft. After draining add approx 2T butter and 1/8 cup of heavy cream (optional) and whip together until they reach the desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste as desired.
You can simply layer your cooked and drained ground beef in the bottom of a casserole dish, cooked veggies on top, and the mashed cauliflower as the third layer. I suggest topping with cheese and bake in the oven at 350-400 for about 15 minutes. If you want, you can take it out of the oven a little early and toss into the broiler for a few minutes to brown the top. Enjoy!
Comments
Hi T.J.!
Just wondering why you would use high carb
veggies like carrots or corn in this otherwise wonderful looking casserole? Corn isn't a low carb vegetable. It isn't even a vegetable, but a grain.
Great to see another lowcarb examiner, BTW!
I didn't use these, I only included green beans in my recipe. I only mentioned these other options for dieters that have moved up the carb ladder or readers that are on other plans like South Beach etc. Please include the veggies that fit your eating plan and let me know how it works out! I'd love to see pictures of your completed recipe :)
Real shepherd's pie is made with ground LAMB, not ground beef. Why do Americans not understand this? When it's made with beef, it's called COTTAGE pie.
Shepherd's pie is actually made with lamb and cottage pie is made with beef (according to english recipes anyway).
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