When the crazy idea of doing Whole30 hit us, we knew we had to get creative so we wouldn’t be bored. We also knew that, since we enjoy entertaining, our recipes had to appeal to those who were not on Whole30. We didn’t want to have friends over and make dinner that wasn’t up to our normal standards. We needed to find ways to bring flavor to our recipes without soy, wine, sugar and grains. So far, we’ve done OK. We had one Zoodle dish that we won’t be sharing. But otherwise, we’ve really enjoyed everything.
Take for instance this Shepherd’s Pie. We dropped out the traditional Worchestershire Sauce in favor of Coconut Aminos and vinegar. While we aren’t really watching the carbohydrates, we made our topping with half celery root rather than all potatoes. We also packed the pie with a lot of root vegetables like a sweet potato and brought some needed sweetness to the pie.
Even before Whole30, Sunday’s are our meal-planning days. We have breakfast and coffee and talk about what we’d like for the week. Make our grocery list and shop together. It makes the whole experience a lot easier doing it with a partner or friend. We find that when we don’t jot down a fairly rigid schedule of what we’re eating for the week, that’s when we slip and make bad decisions. Our lunches typically consist of leftovers from the previous night and we try to make at least one dish that we can eat multiple times throughout the week, it helps on those evenings that we just don’t feel like cooking. With this Shepherd’s Pie, if we’d had a long day, we can grab a couple scoops out, pop it in the microwave and not have to spend an hour on chopping and cooking. So, make this recipe as is or feel free to mix it up any way you like! You could add some greens (or peas if you aren’t on Whole30). You could also make your favorite mashed potatoes with glorious cream and butter. This would make us really jealous. Enjoy!
- Mashed Potatoes and Celery Root
- 2 medium russett or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 celery roots, clean, peeled nd cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- ⅔ - ¾ cup stock (Whole30 compliant chicken, beef or vegetable stock)
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Chopped parsley
- Filling Mixture
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef
- ½ cup carrots, diced
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups root vegetables (we used turnips, but parsnip, kohlrabi, rutabaga, beets or combination all works well)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup broth/stock (compliant beef or chicken)
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Aminos
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried rosemary
- Prepare topping
- Heat large pot of salted water to boil and first add celery root. Then 1 minute or two later add potatoes. Cook until soft.
- Drain potatoes and celery root. Return to pot. Add ghee and ½ cup stock. Using a potato masher and/or immersion blender, puree potato/celery root until very smooth adding additional stock as needed.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Prepare filling
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Heat cast iron or other skillet on medium-high, brown beef, by adding beef to hot skillet and leaving it alone until well browned. Break beef up and continue browning. Remove beef to large casserole dish.
- Using same skillet, add ghee, carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, and other root vegetables. Cook until vegetables being to soften. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add broth or stock, balsamic vinegar, coconut aminos, tomato paste, thyme and rosemary. Return beef to skillet and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook down for 2 minutes.
- Add beef and vegetable mixture back to large casserole dish. Top with potato/celery root puree. Place in oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest on stovetop for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.
