Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie & Lemon Rosemary Cupcakes

Now that it's warming up (slightly) I'm trying to increase the amount of fresh greens in my meals.  But that's not where this post is going.... I've had a hard time eating salads this cold winter and have indulged in plenty of warm vegan comfort foods.  Speaking of mega-comfort-food, yesterday I made a recipe that's turned into a real favorite the past few months, vegan Shepherd's Pie. And why stop there?  We had vegan Lemon Rosemary Cupcakes for dessert.  Today I'm eating a huge salad for dinner.  Balance, right?

The cupcakes are based on the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I added lemon zest, lemon juice & fresh rosemary to the cake batter, and frosted them with the Lemon Buttercream recipe from the same book.  So good & light & lemony!  This book is so awesome.  I've made several of the recipes and they've all turned out super yummy. 

The Shepherd's Pie is sort of a throw-together recipe that I change almost every time I make it based on what I have in my pantry. There are 3 components: filling, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Last night's version started with a filling of onion, garlic, lentils, Yves meatless ground, spinach, fresh herbs and peas.

Then comes the vegan gravy.  Yesterday's was made with veggie stock, miso, nutritional yeast, and some soy sauce.  It all gets mixed together & poured into a pie plate.

Then it gets topped with mashed potatoes and baked under the broiler until it's slightly browned on top.  Last night's potatoes were whipped up with green onion, garlic, soy creamer, earth balance spread, salt & pepper.

The pie tastes even better re-heated the next day.  Yay for left-overs!  And, yes I had a cupcake for breakfast this morning.  Happy Friday!