Guilt Free Shepherd’s Pie Dinner

Comfort food is something I cannot live without.  I just adore potpie, “meat”loaf, lasagna, chik’n dinners, roasts, and all the lovely vegetables that accompany them.  Since you all know I have been really trying not to eat bread and such, I made this healthier crust-less Shepherd’s Pie.  I make chik’n pot pies with crust on the bottom and stuffing on top every once in a while, but this time I opted for the beefier version.
Here are my ingredients:
Pie

• 3 carrots, cleaned and sliced
• 3 stalks celery, cleaned and sliced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1 8oz pack mushrooms, quartered
• 1 pack seitan, broken into1/2” pieces
• 1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies (corn, peas, greenbeans)
• 1 bag plain frozen cauliflower
• 1 bag garlic frozen cauliflower
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• salt
• pepper
• herbs de Provence
• crushed bay leaf

Gravy

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup earth balance
• 1 tbsp. beefless bouillon
• 3 cups water

My method:
My pie began with cooking the classic carrots, onions and celery in 1 tsp. coconut oil, then adding 1 diced potato ( trying to keep it skinny), then 8oz. quartered button mushrooms.  I seasoned generously with herbs de Provence and crushed bay leaf, I kept salt to just a tiny crank or two of pink sea salt.  Once the veggies were par cooked, I removed them from the pot and poured them straight into a casserole dish that was coated with cooking spray.
For the “beef”, I used seitan.  I love seitan.  It mimics beef and it is super high in protein and low in calories.  I heated my cast iron pan, then added a tsp. of coconut oil. I drained and chopped my seitan into small 1/2 beef like chunks.  I put them into the hot oil for a few minutes until they browned. While doing that, I popped one bag of garlic cauliflower steamers into the microwave for 5 minutes.  While the seitan was browning, I made a rue of flour and earth balance butter.  Then I added water and Better than Bouillon Beefless Base.  It made a nice thick gravy.  I seasoned it with a little of the same seasoning I used on the vegetables.  Once it was thick, I reduced the heat, and checked that my seitan was perfectly browned. I then microwaved my bag of plain cauliflower for five minutes. I then poured the seitan chunks through out my vegetable into the casserole dish.  Then I sprinkled some frozen corn, peas, and greens beans into the casserole dish.  I mixed everything together and then poured in my gravy (about 3 cups) onto the vegetables.
Once both cauliflowers were steamed, I poured them into my food processor with 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast, and 2 tbsp. vegan sour cream.  I blended them until they were smooth and creamy like mashed potatoes.  I topped my vegetables with them, covering the casserole dish.  I put it into a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes until the top was brown.  Once I removed it from the oven, I let it cool around 15 minutes before serving. 
You can serve this any night of the week for a great hearty meal and it was awesome the next day beside salad for lunch!