Vegan Cajun Shepherd's Pie!

Adapted from the classic, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen - makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
Meat base

• ​12 oz package impossible meat
• 1 cup dry lentils – brown or green, cooked
• ​16 oz mushrooms, chopped (white button or cremini are great) 

Veggies for meat base

• 1 yellow onion chopped small
• 1 green bell pepper chopped small
• 2-3 stalks celery chopped small
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced

Meat spice mix:

• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (less if you want less spicy)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dry thyme

Remaining ingredients for meat base

• Egg replacer: 1 tablespoon chia seeds or can use ground flax
• ½ cup garbanzo bean flour or dry bread crumbs (or a gluten free flour mix)
• 2 Tbl oil or butter of choice: I like a mix of Earth Balance buttery spread (olive oil) and avocado oil
• 1-2 tsp Tabasco depending on desired level of heat
• 1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk – cashew, almond or hemp milk work well

Veggie layer:

• 3 carrots diced or julienned
• 1 yellow onion diced or julienned
• 1 large or 2 small zucchini diced or julienned
• 1 large or 2 small yellow squash diced or julienned
• 1 TBL oil, avocado or olive 

Veggie layer spice mix:

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Mashed potato layer:
1 recipe Caulipots link below, I add some Earth Balance buttery spread to add some extra buttery-ness, since Paul's original recipe has A LOT of butter in it! Go for it since its much healthier overall!
I use:

• 2 lbs yukon golds
• one small head of cauliflower
• 1-2 TBL Earth balance + a drizzle of olive oil 
• 2-4 TBL broth: scant tsp veggie better than bouillon dissolved in water 

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1637526

Directions:
Cook lentils or used pre-cooked.

Pre-heat oven to 425

In a large skillet, heat the 2 TBL oil and/or butter. Add a pinch of salt, the onions, celery, bell peppers and cook for a few minutes until soft. Add mushrooms and cook until they have given up their liquid. Next add the garlic and meat seasonings and saute for another minute until fragrant. This should take 7-8 minutes. 

Remove from the heat to let cool a bit.

In an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking dish mix the impossible meat, drained lentils, flour or breadcrumbs, milk, egg replacer, worcestershire, tabasco altogether. Once the veggies are no longer steaming, mix altogether well. Press the mixture into the pan to make an even layer. Bake for about 30 minutes while preparing the remaining layers. 

Start the caulipots and you can get the veggie layer sauteed while they are cooking.

Veggie layer: add the oil and heat to medium. Add onions and carrots and a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the diced squash and saute for a few minutes more until crisp tender, don't overcook! Add the spice mixture and saute for another minute until fragrant, remove from heat. 

Finish caulipots per recipe. 

Raise the oven temperature to 500 – broiling. 

Spread the undrained vegetables on top of the meat loaf. Layer all the mashed potatoes evenly over the top of the vegetables – to the edges of the baking dish. Broil until brown on top, about 8 to 10 minutes, and serve immediately.