On a recent backpacking trip, we chanced upon a cabin in the woods. It had been an early start to summer with the temperatures that we’d been getting, but there was still snow on the ground.
This beautiful snowy setting was the perfect backdrop for an adaptation of another one of my home kitchen classics: Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie by RainbowPlantLife, one of my favourite vegan recipe creators. The original dish is a popular comfort food, great for holiday dinners and large gatherings. My version is (almost) just as delicious, hearty, nutritious, ultralight as it calls for only dry ingredients, and comes together quite easily at camp. It also happens to be gluten-free and soy-free, in case you’re celiac or have allergies or insensitivities.
Some notes about the ingredients we need to make this:
- Red lentils (150g): This pie packs a protein-heavy punch, at nearly 20g per person. Red lentils are great because of how quick they are to cook, but you can also use quinoa or if soy is not a problem, dried soy crumbles.
- Instant mashed potatoes (120g) might not seem like much when dry, but with the addition of some water, this fluffs up to make a hefty portion per person. It also adds a modest 10g of protein to the total.
- Coconut milk powder is the trick to achieving a creamy and indulgent consistency without any liquid weight!
- Nutritional yeast adds a slight cheesiness and umami flavour to the otherwise plain potatoes. Combined with the coconut milk powder, this does the job of butter.
- Dried vegetables like some shiitake mushrooms or a soup mix, mainly for textural variety and taste.
It’s a lightweight meal and can be prepared using one pot or two. We lucked out when we found the cabin: we’d only brought one pot, but we could use one of theirs! However, this will not always be the case, so the instructions include steps on how to make the two parts separately when you only have one pot. But you can always dump everything into one and call it a night. It will still taste great!
Upside-down Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Lentil Filling Mix
- 150 g red lentils
- 1/4 cup dried vegetables
- 1 tsp dried sliced onions
- 1 tbsp coconut milk powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp veggie broth powder or 1 bouillon cube
- 1 tsp dried minced garlic, or garlic powder
- small pinch chilli flakes
Mashed Potatoes Mix
- 120 g instant mashed potatoes
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp coconut milk powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
At Home
- Package ingredients into 2 bags (lentil filling goes into one bag and the mashed potatoes mix goes into another).
At Camp: 2 Pot Version
- Pour the lentil filling into one pot, and add about 1.5 cups of water. If you have the time, I would suggest heating up the water, taking it off the heat and letting it sit that way for an hour. This makes it much easier to prepare a pretty thick sauce-consistency filling without burning the bottom.
- In the other pot, add the potato mix and enough water to achieve the desired mashed consistency. Then warm this up on the stove. The mashed potato does not need too much cooking time. Keep stirring to ensure the bottom doesn’t stick to the pan and start to burn.
- Finally, put the lentil filling back on the stove and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the lentils are cooked through. Keep stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn, or add splashes of water if it starts getting too thick.
- Portion out the mashed potatoes and serve the filling on top.
At Camp: 1 Pot Version
- The main change for a 1-pot version, would be to prepare the lentil filling first. Serve it into individual bowls or cups, then prepare the mashed potatoes in the same pot. Since the mashed potatoes are extremely quick-cooking, the lentil filling would still stay warm. If using a silicone heat-proof bag to package the ingredients, the potatoes can be cooked in it directly. All you need is some hot water!
Notes
- For the dried vegetables, I used dried carrots and mushrooms, but a generic mix of dried soup vegetables (an example) works too! If using mushrooms, I like to rough chop them or break them up with my hands so that they rehydrate faster.
- We found the amount of salt indicated in the ingredients to be sufficient, since the broth powder also contains some salt. If you tend to prefer more or less salt, I’d recommend carrying the salt separately so you can add as needed. Another way to regulate the amount of salt would be to add more water if too salty, or cook off a little, if not salty enough.
- Packaged coconut milk powder has some fats, depending on the brand. But if you’d prefer more richness in your meal and to amp up the calories, you can bring a small container of olive oil to drizzle on top, tahini to mix into the lentils, or if you’ll be going to cooler areas, a pad of vegan butter in the mashed potato mix. If you do the latter, make sure to package it in something leak-proof (or be very confident that the butter won’t soften)! It definitely tastes a lot yummier with the extra fat.
We went on a day hike the next day, fuelled by this delicious dinner. Here’s a picture of the view!
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