{Recipe} Sweet Potato Turkey Shepherds Pie

Time to update another recipe!  As the temps start to finally drop (high of 77 here today! Yes, that is cooling off for us) it's time to bust out the foods that warm your stomach & your soul.  Ok, was that too cheesy? Maybe. Anyways, this recipe is amazing. Make it.

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It was always drilled into my head that healthy eating meant a salad, grilled chicken or fish. Sometimes (always) chosing between the 3 doesn't excite me.  I do actually really enjoy fish, but not when I make it. (See Grilled Balsamic Salmon.) I was absolutely STOKED to find this recipe because not only is it really healthy & looked delicious, it was DIFFERENT.

This dish lasted us 3 nights and even by night 3, I still found myself looking forward to it. One of my biggest downfalls is the struggle with portion control. I always want MORE of the foods I love. For once, one serving of the dish actually filled me up!  I was really intrigued by Gina @ Skinnytaste's decision to sub in sweet potato instead of your typical yellow potato in this classic dish.  I recently tried to make a healthy mashed potato and it just did NOT satisfy...and you won't be seeing that recipe here.  The sweet potato is exactly the topping this dish needed.  The only thing I was missing was the individual dishes that Gina recommends you cook the pies in...because that is tradition. Well, baking it in one large dish worked just fine for me! You will also notice I took some liberties & left out a few veggies that I felt were either unnecessary or veggies I wasn't a fan of.

Sweet Potato Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Serves: 6
Cook time according to Gina: Doesn't say
Cook time according to Rachel: 1 hour 15 mins
How difficult was this for Rachel? Not difficult, just a decent amount of steps...BUT WORTH IT!

Ingredients:
For the potatoes:   
3 sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup fat free chicken broth
2 tbsp light sour cream
salt & pepper to taste
For the Filling:
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
10 oz frozen mixed veggies
2 tbsp flour
1 cup fat free chicken broth
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary
salt & pepper
paprika

Additional veggies that I omitted from the original recipe: 
8oz mushrooms, diced
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 parsnip, diced              

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add peeled potatoes & whole garlic cloves

While potatoes boil, in a large saute pan, brown ground turkey. 

Season with salt & pepper. Drain & set aside.

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Add olive oil to the pan, then add onion & sauté for one minute.

(Add celery & parsnip & cook about 12 mins)

If you don't add the additional veggies, sauté onion for aprox 4-5 mins until tender.

Add garlic (and mushrooms) and sauté another 1 minute (3-4 mins if w/ mushrooms)

Add flour, salt & pepper & mix well.

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Add frozen veggies, chicken broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce & rosemary. Mix well.

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Add cooked turkey & mix well. Simmer on low about 5-10 minutes.

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In a 9x13 greased baking dish (or 6 small oven safe individual dishes) pour meat & veggie mix. 

Spread to cover the bottom.

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In a large mixing bowl, remove potatoes & garlic from boiling water. 

They should be nice & soft by now. 

Mash potatoes with chicken broth, sour cream, garlic, salt & pepper.

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Spread potato mixture over the turkey & veggie mix. Sprinkle top with paprika.

Bake 20 minutes or until potatoes turn golden.

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Let cool for 10 mins. Serve!

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Best part of this whole thing? I forgot to take a picture of the dish spooned out. Oh well.