What's Cooking Wednesday: Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Sweet Potato Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

                While it hasn’t been as cold lately as in years past, it’s still winter, and winter means comfort food.  Now just because I use the phrase “comfort food” doesn’t mean we need to end up in a food coma.  By adding some extra veggies and making some ingredient swaps- ground beef for ground turkey, white potatoes for sweet- a traditionally heavy winter staple becomes a lighter but still familiar and comforting dish. I make ours in individual oven safe stoneware bowls so I can customize the veggies for each of us, but it can totally be made in a regular casserole dish.

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tbsp. dried minced onions
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
• ½ tsp all spice
• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup milk or half and half
• ½ cup frozen vegetables of your choice 
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. The easiest (read: fewest dishes) way to do this is in a dutch oven. So put it on the stove, heat to medium and add olive oil.

3. Add garlic and minced onion and heat until onion softens.

4. Add ground turkey to pan to brown. I use a potato masher for this part.  It helps break up the meat while allowing it to brown evenly. Remove it to a paper lined dish to drain.

5. Refill the pot with water and add sweet potatoes.  Cook until potatoes are tender enough to pierce with a fork. Drain water and return to the pot.

6.  Add milk and butter to potatoes and mash or if you prefer a smoother texture, use a hand mixer or immersion blender.  Season with allspice, salt and pepper.

7. Spray a casserole dish (or in my case, stoneware bowls) with nonstick cooking spray.

8.  Layer ground turkey on bottom of dish(es).  Top with frozen vegetables, and then sweet potato mixture.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

9.  Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

Let me know if you make this one and how it turned out!