glutenfreehappytummy: Gardener’s Pie & Mother’s Day Menu Ideas!

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday! My family went to my cousin’s graduation in Indianapolis! (Congrats K!) We stayed at a super nice, 4-star hotel…but get this: the internet was $15 bucks a night! Since it was late and I was only going to have about 20 minutes surfing the web, I took a pass. Sheesh — free internet for the people! Come on!

what a meal!

So tonight, coming home from a trip, I wanted to use up what was left in the fridge. Soo I thought I’d make~~Shepherd’s~~ Gardener’s Pie! This Gardener’s Pie, is a wink to Shepherd’s Pie. BUT…it’s gluten-free, vegan, and Body Ecology Diet friendly!

Gardener’s Pie!!

Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional Irish casserole consisting of meat in a baking dish, topped with mashed potatoes. Well, since I don’t eat meat, and mashed potatoes are a “no-no” on the B.E.D, I replaced the meat with delicious veggies, and the “mashy taters” with millet and amaranth! Yum!

gorgeous fish, gorgeous crust!

Here’s what you need: (Serves 1) — (my parents went out to dinner for a date night:) )

1/4 cup of millet and amaranth mixed, cooked in 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 red onion, chopped
handful of asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
fresh baby spinach

Preheat oven to 350. Cook your millet and amaranth until the liquid has been absorbed, about 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your onions in 1 tsp EVOO with salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika. After they soften, add your mushrooms and asparagus. After a couple of minutes, add in your garlic, let it cook, and then deglaze with vegetable stock. Then, take off the heat.

Next, you’re going to take an oven-safe ramekin and spray it with olive oil spray. Place a small handful of spinach in the bottom, and then spoon your vegetable mixture on top of the greens. Push it down a bit. Finally, place your millet/amaranth layer on top. (You’ll have to shape it a bit with your hands…don’t worry, the spinach will cook down). Spray the top with olive oil and then place in the oven for about 12 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, turn on the broiler and brown the top. Careful they’re hot!! YUM!

Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Body Ecology Friendly!

Finally, with this delicious Gardener’s Pie, I made broiled flounder. Lobsta Bakes’ wild, ocean-caught flounder is SO sweet and tender. I broiled it with 1 tsp EVOO, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. So delicious!

crunchy on top, chewy underneath!

This meal was fantastic! First of all, it was fun to get your own, personal, little ramekin to eat out of! The crust was superb. The amaranth and millet had a beautiful, brown crispy crust on the outside, and then was soft on the inside. The spinach wilted down beautifully, and the asparagus and mushrooms were SO flavorful with the chili powder and paprika! Delicious!

look at all those healthy veggies!

Next time you need to use up some veggies, try out this terrific and easy recipe!

amazing millet-amaranth crust!

For this recipe, I got to use my cute Le Creuset ramekin! I love it so much. It's adorable, and so durable. It can even go in the oven! This is the one I use:

And now….a delicious Gluten-Free Recipe Round-Up for Mother’s Day!

GF Peanut Butter & Jelly Pancakes!