Vegetable (but not vegetarian) shepherd’s pie 2

Still have some of that red kale left (Whole Paycheck has been running a special on their organic greens), so I decided to make a dish that would alienate both FSU and mikeA.

Vegetable (but not vegetarian) shepherd’s pie

3 large russet potatoes
1 pound okara (OR double the potatoes)
2-4 oz grated parmesan
4-6 medium-large carrots (~1/2#)
2-3 zucchini (~1/2#)
1/2 bunch red kale (~1/2#)
1/2 bunch green chard (~1/2#)
Minced garlic and onion to taste/optional
Cooking oil (choose by taste/convenience: I used chicken fat, but you can use olive/canola/etc)
Flour
2 C stock (I used homemade chicken, but any flavor will do)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Prep: wash and quarter the potatoes. Wash and slice the carrots and zukes into thin disks (cut them first longitudinally into halves or quarters if they’re big enough). Wash and coarsely chop the kale and chard.

3. Bottom crust: boil the potatoes until tender. Strain potatoes, then mix with okara and mash until smooth using processor of your choice (I use the batter wand on my KitchenAid). Flavor with S&P, maybe a bit of butter or olive oil. Lightly oil a deep 12×18 baking pan. Spread a little more than half of the potato-okara mix across the pan in an even layer. Place pan in preheated oven.

4. Vegetable layer: saute (garlic & onion here if you like) carrots and zukes in a large pot until tender; then add kale and chard by small handfuls, stirring after each addition; cook all the vegetables together until much of the moisture sweats off. Spread cooked vegetables across bottom potato-okara crust, and return pan with two layers to oven.

5. Gravy: make a roux with oil (I prefer butter, but any will do; 2 T should be adequate) and flour (match amount to oil), cook until flour browns a bit, then add stock (you could use milk for a bechamel instead), whisking until smooth and thickened. Pour evenly over pan, and return pan with three layers to oven.

6. Top crust: add parmesan to remainder of potato-okara, and spread across top of pan. Return pan to over, let heat for 30 min or until top is browned.

Obviously, the alienating factors here (steenky veggies, dead-bird juice, and curdled/solidified cow’s milk) can all be swapped out for less offending materials. Just about any veggies will work, olive/canola oil, veggie stock, simple elimination of cheese (or substitution with the soy variant).