Shepherd's Pie and Braised Leeks

We used to have shepherd's pie when I was a kid, and I basically used my mom's recipe. The braised leeks are a new thing, one I saw today while watching Discovery Home channel, the show Chef at Home with Chef Michael Smith, and they just looked so good I had to try them (even though they aren't so WW friendly.) They were absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making them again, but I'll try and adapt the recipe to be more WW (and vegan) friendly.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

1 C reconstituted TVP
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
5 small yukon gold potatoes
1 TBSP flour
1 1/2 C vegetable broth
1 tsp Earth Balance margarine
2 TBSP fat free sour cream
1 egg yolk
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Onion Powder
Garlic

Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Mash, and let cool slightly. Add the sour cream and 1/2 C vegetable broth. At this point (hopefully your broth was cool or cold) add the egg yolk. This is the topping of the pie.
Make a vegetable gravy- combine the Earth Balance and flour in a small saucepan, and gradually add vegetable broth until it's a nice thick sauce.
Cook the frozen veggies in a bit of warm water. Once they're hot, add some salt and pepper, and onion powder and garlic to taste. In a deep baking dish, combine the TVP, veggies and gravy. You may want to add some more salt and pepper, as the TVP can be a bit bland. On top of the mixture, spoon the potatoes to cover the dish. Sprinkle with paprika, and put in the oven on Broil for about 10 minutes.

Braised leeks

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 leeks, white bottoms only, roots still attached, halved lengthwise
1 cup of Pinot Noir or other red wine - I used Merlot
2 cups of vegetable broth
Salt and pepper

Preheat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter and when it foams, add the leeks, flat side down. Pan roast for a few minutes until the face browns and softens. Add the red wine and broth and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and braise at a slow simmer for 30 minutes, until leeks are very soft and braising liquid has reduced and thickened to a sauce-like consistency.

Wonderful. I only made 2 leeks (they were almost out at the market) and I ate them both, they were so good.


WW points on core: the shepherds pie is 0 pts, because the very small amount of Earth Balance and flour spread out to be something like .2 pts.. Now the leeks.. 2 TBSP butter is 6 pts, a cup of wine is 2 pts and 2 TBSP of olive oil is 7 points. However, I didn't use quite as much butter and olive oil for mine, since I only had 2 leeks instead of 4. But I ate both of them, although a lot of the sauce was left in the pan. So, I'm saying about 7 pts for the leeks. Well worth it though, well worth it.