My Favorite Main Dishes

Shepherd's Pie
A comfort food!

Mashed Potatoes:
3 large or 5 medium baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup milk or almond milk
3 T organic butter
1 tsp. sea salt

Filling:
1 medium onion, diced
2 T olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 lb. ground turkey or beef
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp. sea salt
1 bay leaf (optional)
spices (garlic and oregano or whole cloves or whatever you like)
4 - 6 T ketchup
1 T red wine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook potatoes in water to cover thoroughly. Make sure they're really soft. Drain and mash with milk, butter, and salt. Set aside. Brown onion in oil. Add carrots and celery and saute until tender. Remove from pan. Brown turkey or beef in same pan. Add back veggies and all other ingredients. Mix. Place in deep baking dish. Smooth top. Cover with thick layer of mashed potatoes. Cook about 1 hour or until potatoes are brown a bit on top. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.


Tea Room Chicken adapted from the Perry tea room cookbook

1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1 T parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (may be difficult to find organic)
1 slice bread, crumbled by hand or in mini food-processor
chicken pieces (about 4 servings)
1/3 cup water
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup organic butter, melted
1/3 cup Marsala wine

In a bag, place spices, cheese, and crumbs. Coat chicken well by shaking. Grease a pan with olive oil spray or olive oil. Pour in water and arrange chicken. Sprinkle chicken with oil and melted butter. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Pour wine over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes more. Will have extra sauce to put on baked potato and/or veggies.


Pizza

Dough from Bread Recipe
Muir Glen pizza sauce
Ground beef, browned
Cheese, shredded

Make dough into pizza crust. Let rise to desired thickness. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and spread on pizza sauce. Top with beef and cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted and dough is cooked (about 10 minutes depending on size). Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Note: The bread recipe is enough for about two large pizzas, so you may end up using it for one crust and one loaf, or I've heard you can freeze baked pizza crust if you decided to eat one and freeze one.


Sweet and Sour Beef Stir-Fry
This is one of my hubby's favorites.

1/2 medium onion, diced
1 T olive oil
1 lb. ground beef or beef chunks
1 zucchini, diced (or other veggie)
3/4 cup beef stock
3 T real maple syrup
3 T vinegar
2 T arrowroot powder
1 T naturally-fermented soy sauce
2 cups short-grain brown rice, cooked

Saute onion in olive oil for a couple minutes. Add beef. Cook until brown. Remove from pan. Saute vegetable in olive oil until desired softness. Add onion and beef back into pan. Whisk together remaining ingredients, except rice. Add to pan; cook until thick. Serve over rice.

Note: Short-grain brown rice has a sweeter flavor but is more difficult to find. You can use long-grain brown rice as well.


Marinated Chicken Skewers with Pineapple and Onion adapted from The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook
If you're not up for making skewers, you can do whole pieces of chicken and rings of pineapple right on the grill or broiling pan.

Marinade:
1 cup tightly packed cilantro (or cheat like I do and use dried cilantro in smaller amount)
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup raisins
2 T lemon juice
5 cloves garlic or 1 T minced garlic (can be bought in small jar)
sea salt and pepper

Skewers:
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into about 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 - 2 onions, cut into chunks
6 cups fresh pineapple chunks (or canned, in its own juice if possible)

Blend all marinade ingredients in a food processor. Put chicken and marinade in covered container and refrigerate, overnight if possible. When ready to cook, put chicken, pineapple chunks, and onion chunks onto skewers. Grill or broil on broiling pan on high, turning every 5 minutes. Brush with remaining marinade. Tastes good with brown rice.