Low Carb Shepherd's Pie

If you follow a paleo or primal diet, a low-carb or low-starch diet, or the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (aka SCD), you may be wondering how to recreate some of your favorite comfort food recipes, particularly during the winter when you want a change from stir fries, grilled, roasted, or broiled fish or meat served with a salad, a side of cooked leafy greens or soup.

For many people, comfort food means bread, pasta, potatoes, or casseroles made from one of these foods (think mac & cheese or lasagna). If you’re following one of the ways of eating listed above, you can still make a satisfying facsimile of some of your old favorites using vegetables to replace the grain or potatoes. Cauliflower is a popular low-carb stand-in for potatoes. Perhaps you’ve tried cauliflower (faux) mashed potatoes (not an exact replica of the original, but a tasty alternative) or cauliflower pizza (the cauliflower forms the crust in this one but you do need cheese to make it work).

Photo right: Rachel Albert Matesz, 2010

I tried this recipe (below) from Recipes for The Specific Carbohydrate Diet: The Grain-Free, Lactose-Free, Sugar-Free Solution to IBD, Celiac Disease, Autism, Cystic Fibrosis, and Other Health Conditions (Healthy Living Cookbooks) by Raman Prasad in December. I found it easy to assemble. I made two pans of it. I gave one pan to couple I know who regularly help me with taste-testing (they loved it!). I  froze some of the portions from the pan I kept. I heated my leftovers in a toaster  oven (much better for health and for your health than using a microwave). The casserole didn’t freeze as well as I would have liked. If you’re thinking of making extra portions to freeze, I suggest you wait to add the cheese until you defrost and heat the leftovers. I thought the dish paired well with a crisp green salad with a piece of fresh fruit for dessert.

Shepherd’s Pie

Cooking time: 30 to 40 minutes, most of it unattended    Yield:  6 to 8 servings.

This recipe is a two-step process, which, when combined, tastes delicious! It is an attempt to create a traditional English dish without the traditional English ingredients.

Note: If you don’t eat cheese you could add 1 or 2 extra tablespoons of butter, olive oil, or avocado oil (the latter is very mild, trust me) to the cauliflower when you blend it. If you don’t tolerate even trace amounts of casein in butter, replace it with ghee (basically clarified butter) or one of the oils previously listed.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons (23 ml) olive oil, divided
1 pound (455 g) ground beef
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
10 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lime juice
1 medium-size cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
3/4 cup (90 g) grated Cheddar cheese
Parsley leaves, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F (170 C, or gas mark 3). Grease an ovenproof baking dish with 1/2 tablespoon (8 ml) of the olive oil.
2. In a stove top pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil and sauté the ground beef for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add the cumin powder, salt, and pepper and cook over low heat until the ground beef is cooked through, another 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Add the spring onions to the mixture and stir for about 2 minutes, or until they soften slightly. Remove the pan from the stove, and mix in the lime juice. Place the mixture in the ovenproof baking dish.
5. Meanwhile, steam the cauliflower florets until tender. Puree or blend the cauliflower with the butter in a food processor until smooth. Then spread it evenly on top of the cooked ground beef. Add the grated cheese on top.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Garnish with parsley leaves, if desired.

Note:  The key here is not to let the beef dry out too much on the stovetop. As an alternative, you can add the cheese to the cauliflower when you blend it, instead of layering it on top.