Shepherd's Pie

This recipe I adapted from a Weight Watcher's cookbook. (Don't laugh, the recipes are good!)

Ingredients:

• 6 yukon gold potatoes
• 12 baby carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
  
• 1 cup chopped spinach leaves
• 0.8 lbs chicken "chop suey" (basically chicken breasts chopped up into little chunks)
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
• parmasean and paprika to sprinkle on top

Instructions

1. Making mashed potatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Peel and cut potatoes into quarters. Put potatoes in the boiling water, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. While the potatoes are boiling, proceed to step 2. Mash and add milk to desired consistency. Add butter and salt to taste. (We added season salt from the Denver Botanical gardens that we got for Christmas.)
2. Preparing the veggies: Bring a smaller pot of water to a boil. Chop the baby carrots as the water is boiling. Cook them for 2 minutes. In the last 10 seconds, throw in the corn to warm it up. Cool off the veggies in cold water to stop the cooking process. Chop the spinach leaves.
   
3. Cooking the chicken: Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan, set to low heat. We started off with frozen chicken. After the pieces separated, we turned the heat up to medium and added the chopped scallions. Fry until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
4. Making the sauce: Melt the margarine in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour, stir for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, soy sauce and 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and thicken for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
   
5. Assembling the pie: Combine the chicken, veggies, spices (other than paprika and parmasean), condensed milk, the other tablespoon of flour, and the sauce from step 4. Put this mixture to a 3 quart casserole coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with paprika and parmasean. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Potatoes should be golden brown. Let thicken for about 10 minutes before eating. Serves 4.

Behold!



Initial impressions: Success! The potatoes are awesome, all the spices go well together. I might use better quality carrots next time. There's a lot of prep time for the individual ingredients, but I would definately repeat it.


Issues: I was a little afraid that the mixture was too soupy after combining everything but the potatoes, but it all worked out in the end.