Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Classic Comfort Food

I realize winter hasn't officially started, but there is enough snow and cold in my part of the world to warrant comfort food. Not just any comfort food, but something with tater tots in it. Yes, I've sunk to a new nutritional low. I have fond tater tot memories and apparently so does Rob because he was eager for me to make this dish. The kids had no idea what a tater tot was, which makes me very happy. I tried to introduce tater tots (the organic kind, of course!) when Parker was little and he had zero interest and then I thought to myself "Do I really want my kid to like tater tots?" and the answer was "no" so I never tried again. Then eight years later, I was reading Lindy Loo's blog (she is a bad influence in a good way) and saw Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie from My Veggie Kitchen and I knew anti-tater tot or no, I had to make this. It was very good and Parker asked me to make it more often, but Dema was wary of the tater tots. I used olive oil instead of Earth Balance, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast because we all love the stuff, and omitted the soy milk by mistake, but it doesn't need it. I used the water from boiling the potatoes with vegan bouillon cubes to make the broth. This is a great way to use up veggies and we all agreed next time we could leave off the tater tots, but we are strange that way. Great cold weather casserole, I do recommend it.To go with the classic comfort food theme this week, I also made FatFree Vegan's Chili Mac recipe I've been eyeing for a while. It is definitely healthier than the shepherd's pie, but very good and hearty. I used whole wheat pasta and didn't have chipotle chili powder so we added a little hot sauce. Quick, easy, yummy, nutritious, and tastes great the next day if you have leftovers.

6 comments:

Misc said...

I was looking for a pot luck recipe to take to my husband's company's holiday party and I think the shepherd's pie hit the spot. Both recipes look so good.

I'm not a fan of tater tots either (and my kids won't touch them) but am willing to give them a shot with this dish.

Thanks for sharing this.

VeganLinda said...

Let me know how you like it! I think I would have preferred carrots to corn, but as it says on the recipe...just play with the veggies. I would think this dish would be pretty omnivore friendly so I was thinking of using it for potlucks myself.

Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

Both dishes look great. And I love that your kids are wary of nutritionally void foods! Sadly, most kids live on that kind of stuff.

Stef said...

Mmmmm, tater tots! I love them, but Ollie has not yet had them. This looks delicious.

dreadheadartist said...

It's not just kids living on tater tots. Some adults tend to too. (I'm not mentioning any names though!)

Linda-Do you hire yourself out as a vegan cook? Maybe a kind of "ship frozen meals to your door" kind of thing?!?

I absolutely hate cooking so if I can't open a can, bag or box or have to be in the kitchen more than 20 minutes, I don't want to make it! Your food pics look so good and I know are so much more healthier than what we eat anymore. Probably why I feel like crap most of the time. (go figure!) What I wouldn't give for some home cooked vegan food! (that was a hint, in case you missed it.)smile!!

VeganLinda said...

Dreadhead,

There was a time, pre-kids when we were working/living in DC, when I thought we might be living on organic baked fries and take-out vegan Chinese. For me it was tough to enjoy cooking for two.

Too bad you guys don't live down the street from us anymore - you'd have an open invite to come over for food anytime. You all need to come for a visit. Makes you miss C-U, doesn't it? :-)