Category: Main Dishes

Mushroom-Wild Rice Cottage Pie

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Commonly known as Shepherd’s Pie, this twist on a cottage pie includes rich mushroom and flavourful, nutty wild rice. Add tempeh, kidney beans, or crumbled tofu after the rice cooks, if desired.

ST - cottage pie - preparing

Mushroom-Wild Rice Cottage Pie

For the potatoes:
Salted water, to cook potatoes
6 to 8 medium yellow-flesh potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 cup mushroom broth (below)

For the filling:
1 .5oz/14g package dried porcini mushrooms
5 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 pounds (680g) cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 turnips (not rutabaga), peeled and finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 cup wild rice
3 tablespoons roasted cashew butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste

For the potatoes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes. Cook until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the dried mushrooms in a large bowl. Cover with boiling water and let stand 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and turnips. Cook until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and sage, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes longer.

Strain the mushroom liquid into the pot with the vegetables, reserving 1/2 cup. Rinse the mushrooms and finely chop, adding them to the pot. Add the rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook 40 minutes. Stir in cashew butter and tomato paste. Let cook an additional 10 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, drain the potatoes. Add the olive oil and reserved broth. Mash well. Stir in the chives and season with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat the oven to 375F.

Once the mixture on the stove top is finished, carefully pour it into a 9×13 casserole dish. Spread with the potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the potatoes start to brown and become crispy. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

ST - cottage pie - finished

Maple Apple Buckwheat Breakfast Casserole

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This breakfast casserole highlights the simplicity of basic ingredients. Definitely opt for a good quality maple syrup (dark preferred) and baking apples–my favourite are Mutsu.

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Maple-Apple Buckwheat Breakfast Casserole

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat (a pantry favourite–does it a devoted post?)
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 sweet tart apples, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, plus more for serving (I like the dark stuff)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus a bit more
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea or Himalayan salt
2 cups unsweetened plain or vanilla nondairy milk (such as So Delicious or Almond Breeze)
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

In a 8-cup capacity casserole dish (an 8-inch square glass one will work great), layer a third of the buckwheat. Top with half of the raisins, half of the apples, and another 1/3 of the buckwheat. Follow with the rest of the apples, the maple syrup, then half of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. You can eyeball these amounts. It doesn’t have to be half exactly.

Pour half of the nondairy milk over the layers. Add the rest of the raisins, buckwheat, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Top with pecans, and sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Top with the remaining nondairy milk.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the apples are tender. Let cool to room temperature, and serve with additional maple syrup.

Cinnamon-Maple Pear and Almond Butter Sandwich

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Cinnamon and maple glazed pears (and apples are great here, too), with loads of almond (or any nut) butter, on toasty whole grain bread… it doesn’t get much better than that I like using my Multigrain Hempseed Bread from The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread since it is seedy and thick in texture, unlike the softer sandwich ones, which offers a nice contrast to the smooth, creamy filling. The bread pictured, however, is the Wholesome Flax Bread, since I make it most frequently.

Maple Cinnamon Pear and Almond Butter Sandwich

Cinnamon-Maple Pear and Almond Butter Sandwich

1 small or medium Barlett pear, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pieces whole grain, gluten-free bread
2 tablespoons roasted almond butter
1 teaspoon ground flaxseed

Put the maple syrup in a medium saucepan. Add the sliced pear and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until tender, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool. Spread the almond butter on one side of each slice of bread. Sprinkle with flaxseed. Layer the pears on one side of the bread and top with the other slice. Slice in half and serve, or wrap to pack in a lunch.