It's lucky I can cook, because it's been a WEEK! (and it's not over yet!)

I needed some comfort food. And I left work while it was still light outside (barely.) Tonight, in honor of being a human being, I am not reading all my emails and checking the voicemail on the special events line. I am not writing to partners and committee members and being supportive to actors...ok, well, fine. I am answering a couple of emails. But only the important ones from partners and committee members.

I made shepherd's pie. That's right, fool. And it's pretty awesome.

My recipe turned out to be pretty quick and dirty, you know, like me.

Ok, arrive home from grocery store, pour a glass of wine, set a big pot of water on the stove to boil.

Scrub-a-dub about a pound of ruby gold potatoes, cut into fourths and throw in the boiling water(peeling is for suckers). Meanwhile, toss a pound of ground turkey into a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Note: You're going to want a teensy bit of grease on your turkey a little later, so i would recommend getting a grind with a little fat in it. I'm cheap, so i just got the 85/15 turkey and poured out the grease just before adding the vegetables. What I'm saying is, I wouldn't go for the 99/1) While you're browning your turkey, cut up your fixin's. I used a precious little organic carrot, sliced, 2 stalks of celery, about a cup of frozen veg blend (carrots, peas, corn, green beans), one huge shallot, sliced, and some cut-up fresh herbs: rosemary, sage, thyme. That smelled orgasmic, btw.

Isn't it pretty?

Anyway, once my turkey was browned, I drained the grease, then added the vegetables and a bunch of cracked pepper and cooked it until the celery got a little transparent and the shallots broke up and started to look sauteed. uuuuuuggggggh.mmmmmmmmmmm. I just had my first bite of this food. My verdict: effing delicious, but if you're not trying to be heart-healthy, add some butter and salt to the potatoes. After my meat and veg (hehehehehhe) started to look not-raw, and a new, smaller batch of turkey grease had shown up, I added about a 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour. Meanwhile, my potatoes were about done, so I drained them, turned around and ...what the...right! I forgot about my glass of wine. It was also about this time that I remembered to preheat the oven. Happily sipping now, I started in on the potatoes. I added about a 1/2 cup of ricotta, 1/4 cup skim milk, a bunch of cracked pepper and a scant 1/8 teaspoon sea salt. mmmmuuuhhh. I almost wish this blog were a voice recording so you could hear me saying this while totally stuffing my face with this food. Now that my turkey/veg and flour mixture had spent a couple of minutes browning, I added 1 1/2 - 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, which is amazing, and totally salt free, and I made on the night of the holy-shit-i-can-make-great-no-salt-chicken-broth-but-then-oops-i-broke-the-jar-and-now-only-have-one-and-a-half-cups incident. I let the chicken broth cook into the mixture and make a bit of a gravy for a couple of minutes while I preheated the oven. Because, you know, I forgot that before.

I transferred the meat/gravy/veg business to a 9x9 pyrex dish and topped it with the potatoes. Then, I smooshed the potatoes around until they made a delightful and semi-sealed layer on top.

So, swiss cheese has way less sodium than other cheeses. And fresh mozzarella...it's downright low sodium! The point of what I am saying is this: I hadn't had cheddar cheese, totes my fave, in nearly a month. So I cheated, just a little, and shredded just a wee taste of cheddar onto the top of my pie. Everything in moderation, I say. Otherwise, you'll go off the map completely. I try to take even my cheating seriously and be responsible about it, thus the fact that I resisted piling mountains of gooey, delectable extra-sharp cheddar all over my food.

I baked it at 375 (which would be closer to 400 if my oven told the truth) for about 20 minutes, or until the gravy business started bubbling out a little, and then I let it rest (in the microwave, because my cat, Hugo, can SO not be trusted.) for about 10 minutes. Then I ate it. And I still am. And it rulz.

Also, a note. I am having trouble with my image-y business in blogger today. Sorry if things are out of order!