Unemployed Shepherd's Pie

Haha, I wish I could say that I came up with the name of this delicious vegetarian alternative to the classic dish Shepherd's Pie- but I'll have to admit that I got it from Vegetarian Times- you can find the full recipe here. This picture caught my eye right away while I was flipping through the October issue- I mean come on- eggplant cooked in onions, garlic, and tomatoes combined with Parmesan cheese and then topped with a nest of homemade mashed potatoes harboring finely chopped zucchini and bell pepper? How could I not look at the recipe?


And baby baby did it live up to the pretty picture. This is such a good Fall meal!! One change that I made (and pretty much always make) is that I used fresh garlic instead of garlic flakes- I put in about 4 cloves (ok maybe 5...) because I really think that eggplant needs garlic- they are just so perfect together.
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I love vegetarian dishes that don't seem like their missing meat- this tasted like such a complete meal and was adequately filling too. The only thing that makes it a bit difficult is all of the peeling and chopping and the fact that the three components of the dish have to be cooked seperately and then baked together.


For me, now that Helen Mae will not play quietly on the kitchen floor anymore without pulling up to standing on...well...anything and nearly inevitably take a tumble, this is a lot of prep for a regular weeknight meal.

But gosh, it was so good and it appealed so much to both me and my slightly carnivorous husband that I probably will make the time to prepare this again pretty soon! I'm just a sucker for pretty magazine pictures!