Paleo Shepherd's Pie

This recipe came to fruition because of too much salt in mashed cauliflower. I was whipping up the steamed cauliflower and I poured in a heap of salt. Bummer. I mean, I'm kind of a salt fiend, but these were pretty inedible. I thought they might be salvageable mixed with other stuff to temper the saltiness - and so I made shepherd's pie. Which really, what is shepherd's pie? Meat and veggies covered with mashed potatoes, right? I think the only time I ever ate it was while on a bike trip in Baltimore where the houseful of folks made a big vegetarian version. I can't remember if there was fake meat or just veggies, but I remember I liked it. Although, really, what didn't I like while on a bike trip?

In any case, I really don't have much to compare this to, but it reminded me of two things: 1) making and cooking "hobo dinners" while camping as a kid (cut up various veggies and wrap them up in tin foil with bits of burger to cook in the fire) and 2) eating at my grandma's when she served hamburger gravy on mashed potatoes. Her recipe came from the public school's cafeteria cookbook (chow mein was another of her favorites) - back when cafeteria's actually cooked food with real ingredients and thus USED cookbooks. Not that their recipe's were particularly healthful - but there were actual ingredients. (As a tangent, my mom just told me about a woman in apple valley or some suburb who has lead this effort to overhaul 5 school kitchens so that the school's can serve healthy, actual food. Apparently school cafeteria's are currently equipped only to reheat food, and if given raw meat they have no way to actually cook it. ?!)

Anyway, there is something pretty comforting to me about having hamburger and mashed potatoes together...it's such a midwestern-hotdish sort of thing. The recipe I used is here, and she uses what is probably standard to shepherd's pie: carrots and celery to accompany said cauliflower, onion and burger - with some broth. Because I was in a last minute situation, I used cabbage in lieu of carrots/celery. I halved the recipe and did not use bacon - only a pound of burger. I also threw in a little wine with the broth - don't know if it made much difference, but I think it could only be for the better if it did!

I'd totally make this again - maybe in the fall with brussels sprouts in there too. And call it shepherd's hotdish. or something.