Roasted Vegetables with Honey and Mint

This recipe came about as a nice side dish to serve with our shepherd’s pie. Mint and lamb are often synonymous so I thought it would pair nicely. The key here is to make sure all of your vegetables are the same size so they cook evenly. I used carrots, parsnips, and brussel sprouts. You could easily just do brussel sprouts or just the carrots and parsnips. This would be good with the addition of beets as well.

What you need:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs chopped vegetables (brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, beets)

olive oil

honey

salt and pepper

fresh rosemary

fresh mint

red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, place your vegetables in baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and honey. I like a 2-1 ratio here....let’s say 2 tbsp olive oil to 4 tbsp honey. Use your best judgement depending on how large of a dish you are making. Add fresh ground salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. 1 tsp each for 1.5 lbs of vegetables. Cook for 15 minutes and then stir. Keep cooking and stirring in 15 minute increments until vegetables are cooked through, should take about 45 minutes total. Remove from the oven and add 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint and 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.

Shepherd’s Pie

A classic, hearty family meal that everyone will love. Instead of topping with mashed potatoes I like to do a root vegetable mash that consists of turnips, potatoes, and rutabagas. Tons of flavor and extra nutrition, my children never noticed the difference.

What you need:

Pie filling: 1 small chopped onion

2 carrots, peeled and diced small

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground lamb

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons ketchup

2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves

1/2 cup frozen peas

Mashers:

1 large rutabaga

2 small turnips

2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes

1/4 cup heavy cream

4 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a small pot with cold water and peel your root vegetables and cut them into 1 inch squares. Add your potatoes, rutabaga, and turnips to the pot and bring to a boil then simmer for about 15-18 minutes or until they are soft. Meanwhile, add a drizzle of olive oil to a pan and set over medium heat to cook your onions and carrots. Stir them around until they have softened then add your garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Add your ground lamb and brown. When the lamb is mostly cooked, drain off the fat. Now add your ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Most shepherd’s pie recipes call for tomato paste but I never bother with the stuff. You never need much and then you are left with a 3/4 full can of tomato paste that will inevitably go to waste. Food waste is bad, ketchup is good : ) Stir in your peas (its ok if they are still frozen, they will cook quickly). Transfer to a baking dish.

Now its time to finish off your mashers, drain the water from the pot. Add 4 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper, and cream to the pot and mash vegetables until desired consistency. I like them to be mostly smooth but a couple of lumps show they are homemade. With a rubber spatula spread your mashers on top of the ground lamb mixture. Place baking dish in preheated oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until mashers start to lightly brown. Remove from the oven, add a couple more pats of butter and serve.

Green Chile Chicken Tacos

I made these in the instant pot because its so fast and easy but these could easily be converted to a slow cooker recipe. We needed some Taco Tuesday variety this week and I am still feeling the need to be relatively healthy following the holiday binge. Chicken thighs are the preferred protein here because they are so juicy, all the fat melts away and helps create the luscious sauce.

What you need:

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 tsp cumin

1.5 tsp chili powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 4 oz can diced green chiles

Fresh squeezed Lime juice (1/2 lime) and cilantro (1 tsp)

Rub chicken thighs with dry ingredients. Turn instant pot to sauté and brown chicken on both sides, about 2.5 minutes per side. Add green chiles and garlic. Cover with lid and set to pressure cook for 12 minutes. Allow to natural release for about 10-12 minutes then vent and open. Shred chicken with a fork, add fresh squeezed juice of 1/2 a lime and cilantro, I added another light sprinkle of salt and pepper too. If you like crispy edges, transfer to a sheet pan and throw under the broiler for about 3 minutes...Johnny insists on this but I leave it up to you.

I served mine simply with just hot sauce and cotija cheese but J put arugula and hot peppers on his. This is a good base for all sorts of creativity.