Shepherd's Pie helps ward off stress

I have a lot going on lately; a mix of drama, busy work and up-in-the-air dynamics that has me feeling a little more stressed than usual. Yesterday I found relief two ways: running 3 and a half miles, and then cooking up a big comfort casserole of Shepherd's Pie for dinner.

Shepherd's Pie is a dish that requires no recipe. Throw just about any combination of meat, vegetables, tomatoes and spices into a pot, cook that up and spread it into an 11-by-13-inch baking dish, top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with a little bit of sharp cheddar cheese (not too much-- it pays to show respectable restraint with the cheese.)

Here's what I did yesterday: I browned a pound of ground sausage with a chopped sweet onion, three cloves minced garlic, and a good shake of dried Italian seasoning. I then added two 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes, about a cup of chopped carrots, a chopped red bell pepper, two small sliced zucchinis, a bit of red wine. I also threw in about a cup of frozen corn. I let this simmer while I boiled about 10 medium size red potatoes for 10 minutes. Then I mashed the potatoes with about 3/4 cup milk and 4 tablespoons butter. (I used my KitchenAid mixer to mash the potatoes. It's such a useful toy!) At the last minute, I added just a couple tablespoons of flour to my meat and vegetables and stirred that with a wisk to thicken things up a little. I poured the meat mixture into a baking dish and topped with dollops of the potatoes, which I then spread evenly to cover the dish. I sprinkled the top with about 4 ounces of grated cheddar and a little bit of parsley. I baked the casserole for an hour at 350 degrees.

Keep this dish in mind in a couple weeks; it's a great way to use up leftover turkey and mashed potatoes.