Chana Masala-Inspired Shepherd’s Pie

Hey babes,

If you’re like most of the western world, you probably grew up with a set of staple dishes rotating across your dinner table. For those of us from blue collar families with stay-at-home moms, that usually meant simple, hardy dishes. Being from the southwest, that meant lots of Tex-Mex, beans, cornbread, and chilis, but once I got older and started befriending and dating New England natives, I discovered more old-world staples, including the iconic shepherd’s pie, or cottage pie, as it is also known.

No dish is more perfectly emblematic of the idea of a meat and potatoes sort of person or meal. The trouble is that most of the world doesn’t live in the pastoral vision that is brought to mind when one thinks of a shepherd’s pie. Gone are the days of Little Bo Peep and her sheep, and all we have now is climate destroying factory farms and a lot of really unhappy cows.

Fortunately shepherd’s pie doesn’t have to coming to the new era with that same sort of energy, and has had a variety of vegetarian iterations throughout the decades. As I’ve mentioned before potatoes can be a fantastic addition to your life and you certainly don’t have to use them to top ground animal bits. But since we’re giving this pie a much-needed makeover, why don’t we give all russet the slip and call his cute cousin, the aptly named sweet potato.

Aside from possibly red cabbage and a few others, sweet potatoes are one of the cheapest sources of micro and macronutrients and antioxidants in the grocery store. At a typical cost of $0.99/pound (and even lower around the winter holidays), sweet potatoes should be in everyone’s regular meal rotation. They come in pretty close to other starchy carbohydrates in terms of calorie density (roughly 200 kcal/cup), and in that one cup you get nearly 7 grams of fiber and 800% of the RDA for vitamin A, 65% for vitamin C, and a robust amount of manganese, potassium, and vitamin B6, among others. As you can guess by their vibrant color, sweet potatoes are also packed full of free-radical fighting antioxidants, and their fiber/antioxidant content help nourish the gut microbiome, while the megadose of vitamin A can support both your vision and immune function.

To be candid, this idea came about because I am a relentless know-it-all, and because I have a deep love of spicy, fragrant foods. Don’t get me wrong, I love a russet potato, but if I’m going to have it baked, I want vibrant toppings, like vinegary hot sauces, bright fresh cilantro and red onions, and hot, smoky soyrizo. So for a shepherd’s pie, it had to be something special and different.

Naturally, I started my search in the largest repertoire of cooking innovation I know of: Pinterest. And one got really close, but for my palette it needed tweaking.

Here’s a tip for everyone, for every occasion. The single easiest way to make food delicious is not with salt or oil or even sugar. It’s all about those other herbs and spices. For this recipe, I took the small sampling of traditional Indian spices in the original and punched them up, bringing in complementary spices that not only boost the flavor, but the health benefits as well.

The primary spices in this dish are all well-regarded for their anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer qualities, particularly turmeric and black pepper, chili pepper, and cumin, as well as helping to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. The garlic and ginger and both attributed with a whole list of possible and verified health benefits, and the fenugreek has been shown to significantly boost strength and power-output in resistance training. As a gym rat who loves the taste of Indian dishes, I was truly thrilled.

All of those beautiful spices and silky sweet potatoes, added to some of the healthiest legumes in the world, and a combination of humble, hearty vegetables (looking at you, peas), and what do you get? Dinner!

In the spring I like to pair this with asparagus or a spring salad and a bright vinaigrette, but it’s a great one-dish dinner, or with flatbread and dips, or kale sautéed with garlic, ginger, and mustard powder. Let me know what you pair with your shepherd’s pie and what you think!