So I always have in the back of my mind the idea that I could get a little more virtuous with my eating – reduce my carbon footprint, eat less animals, grow more of my own (organic, non-gmo) food. On an intellectual level, I really crave that care and consideration of basic living.* On a very animal level, I also crave meat pretty regularly. I know, right? One of these things is not like the other.

I was a vegetarian for years and years – the tail of high school, all through college, and a little after that too. Some friends posited that this was because I was a dreadful cook at the time, and a salad is pretty hard to fuck up. They may or may not have been right, to be honest. Eventually I did learn to cook, tho’, and I like to think I’m a pretty good cook these days. In my forays into learning how to cook, I’ve tried a variety of dishes, some of them even with no leaning on meat.

A few years ago I decided that I was going to take the plunge and go vegan. I did a poor job of researching things, in honesty, and found myself in a carb coma that lasted something like the two-week duration of the experiment, before snarfling a can of tuna in a fashion not wholly divorced from Fantastic Mr. Fox** at the breakfast table

Anyway. As I recently mentioned to a friend who is wholly vegan, I’m not sure that I want to embrace eating vegan right now, but I have the urge to at least breeze by and drop a mash note in its pocket. I aim, in the interest of emotional and physical betterness,*** to bring more veggies to the table, and less meat. So I’m trying out some recipes.

Being a samosa fiend, I’d had this recipe bookmarked on my Pinterest  for a while:  Samosa Pot Pie. Whut. I’ll have you know, it was outrageous – Will Dearest and I kept looking at each other like, I cannot believe how satisfying this is.† The phrase was even uttered out loud a few times, to be honest. Here’s the skinny: I took the original recipe and played with it a bitty bit. So let me share with you.

Samosa Pot Pie – feeds 4 with leftovers

2 pie shells (one for top)
2 8-oz boxes of veggie broth
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled, chopped into 1″ cubes
3 carrots, peeled, chopped fine
1 1/2 c cauliflower pieces, broken up
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 1/2 tsp. madras (yellow) curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 grinds of black pepper

1. In a large pot, combine broth, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and onion. Reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). Turn off heat, add peas, and allow to stand until the peas are thawed (a mere minute). Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water.

2. In a small bowl, mix garlic, and dried spices with the reserved cooking water. Pour onto cooked vegetables and gently blend.

3. Turn vegetables into pie shell, press down gently and cover with second pie shell. Crimp edges, trim off excess, poke top with a fork so steam can escape, and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Pairs well with something green and warm on the side. I served it with steamed broccoli rabe (which I happen to love, even if the menfolk are less interested), and found it perfect. You could also go with steamed  asparagus or snap peas, I bet.

So what I mean to say, is that this meal hit it out of the park. I’ll definitely be making this again.

***

*Also, I frequently think that I missed some window of opportunity to become a forest ranger. That whole walk-gently-leave-nothing-behind-but-footprints idea, right?
**We watched that on a whim last weekend and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Beyond, “I weigh less than a slice of bread,” and “But I’ve modified this tube sock.” I may need to buy a household copy so that I can watch it a bunch more times.
***I hear from lots of vegans that they find they have more energy now that they’ve been eating without meat or animal products. I find that seriously appealing.
†A rather big deal, actually. Sometimes when I mention to Will Dearest that I’m planning to cook something our of our ordinary, he’s dubious, and comes to the table with justified trepidation. In my own defense, there haven’t been a whole lot of times that we’ve thrown it out and ordered pizza, but in his defense, there has been an incident or two.