There’s nothing more motivating than snow-covered roads and a dwindling grocery supply to make me take stock of the leftovers and come up with lunch. When the kids stand in front of the refrigerator and tell me there’s nothing to eat, I take that as a challenge. So here’s my recipe starting with the list of ingredients excavated from the freezer and fridge:
1 1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 large tilapia tenderloin
1 cup frozen chopped organic spinach
1 cup of roasted parsnips and onions left from a batch of roasted root veggies
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 strips of natural bacon
Dice and brown the bacon. Drain most of the fat. Add the parsnips and onions, spinach, and chunks of fish and stir gently over low heat until warmed through. Add the heavy cream and stir. Split the filling between three individual gratin baking dishes or 4 smaller dishes. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Brown potatoes under broiler briefly. Serve 3-4.
I have to say the roasted onions and parsnips made the dish. The roasted sweetness of the veggies with the smoky bacon and creamy potatoes made this the ultimate in comfort food on a winter day after barn chores.
I love fisherman’s pies and shepherd’s pies because you can really play with ingredients and combinations and use up leftovers. My adaptation of a McCormick spice shepherd’s pie recipe has been further adapted by Diane at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang this week with chicken.
Lauren at Celiac Teen is hosting the Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free Challenge. She chose food holidays as the theme this month. I’ve been playing with those holidays all month. We had spaghetti and meatballs on National Spaghetti Day and hot pastrami sandwiches on, you guessed it, Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day. My fisherman’s pie is for National Pie Day because I’d rather eat a savory pie any day. Unless it’s pumpkin pie, I’ll take a pot pie, a shepherd’s pie or a fisherman’s pie instead. Speaking of pumpkin pie, Shirley over at GFE swears she has the best crustless, gluten-free pumpkin pie ever. She’s also over at Stephanie O’Dea’s doing a chat about her Gluten-Free Easily philosophy.
Anyone else try variations on shepherd’s or fisherman’s pies? I’d love to hear about it.
This recipe is aslo part of Diane at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang’s Real Food Weekly. Visit her for more gluten-free recipes featuring real, unprocessed food by talented and creative gluten-free cooks.
