Veganmofo V: Iron Chef Challenge #1: Secret Chickpeas!

 So I was a tad bit late to the game and craving something hearty (after all it is thanksgiving weekend, even if you are a single girl living alone). Therefore my humble entry into the first Vegan Iron Chef Challenge is

::drum roll::

Chickpea Pie!

As it turns out there are about a million different ways people make shepard's pie both vegan and non-vegan. The way my mother used to do it was super plain, fry hamburger (maybe onion), top with cream corn and mashed potatoes, sprinkle paprika and bake. But a quick google search brings up thousands of variations most of which seem to involve gravy and some carrots/peas/corn/green bean combo.

Here's my recipe.

Single Chick's Pea Pie

• 1 can chickpeas (homemade if you aren't pressed for time)
• 4 thin skinned potatoes
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 small (10 oz) cans of veggies (whatever is on sale, I used 1 carrots and peas + 1 10 oz can of carrot, pea, corn and bean)
• 2 large spoon fulls of white miso
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1/4 WW flour
• 1/2 onion
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp celery seed, poultry seasoning, oregano, thyme, sage, Rosemary, paprika
• 1 tsp coarse ground salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp earth balance
• 1 cup water, vegetable stock  or water mixed with boullion.
• 2 stalks of green onion (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat 2 large Tbsp of oil oil in cast iron skillet
2. Scrub and chop potatoes before adding to boiling water, cook until done and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, Dice onion and mince your garlic. Add onion to hot oil and stir, add salt and pepper. Drain your can of chickpeas and vegetables (keep chickpeas separate from veggies!).
4. One onions start to become translucent add your garlic (reduce heat to medium high) and seasonings. Continue to cook until fragrant.
5. Add chickpeas, stirring to coat everything in oil/spices. Cook until chickpeas are seasoned. Then add earth balance until melted and sprinkle flour into pan. Stir quickly to dissolve flour completely (it may be easier to combine flour/earth balance in a small dish and then add to pan).
6. Once flour mixture is coating the chickpeas, mix miso and warm water together stiring until miso is dissolved. Add the miso mixture to skillet and stir. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add your water/broth slowly, stir until mixture thickens.
7. 
8. Continue to cook chickpeas/gravy until mixture is thick and begins to bubble, reduce heat to simmer stirring occasionally. Allow this to cook for another 7 minutes before adding your drained vegetables. 
9. Cook mixture until your mashed potatoes are ready, aim for at least 15 minutes so the flavours can hang out a bit.
10. When potatoes are cooked, drain and mash them with the Almond milk, adding just enough to get a consistency you enjoy. Mix in the green onions to the potatos.
11. 
12. Take your gravy chickepea mixture and layer it into an oven safe casserole dish or pie pan. Cover mixture with mashed potatoes, top with additional green onion pieces if desire crack black pepper and parika over top. Bake until top is golden brown and dish is heated through.

This is a super rich and pretty salty gravy thanks to the miso, I think next time I would try adding 1/4 cup of nooch to the base to see how it goes. In my household we always ate shepherd's pie with a side of pickles, so grab some of those if you have them and chow down.

Either way there is no attractive way to plate this puppy, so here she is:

Silky, creamy, rich and savoury filling with potato/scallions.