Curry me turkey

First things first:

A few moments of silence for my bike that got stolen yesterday (theivery is unfortunate and very sad) 

Alright, moment's over. This is like the ANTITHESIS of shepherd's pie!  But it's VERY good!  I made this Monday eve, and it's actually a suitable weeknight meal for those who have 20-25 minutes for prep (it's blitz prep, not the take your time and let your mind wander into space prep)

Finished product - orangey goodness

I've mentioned before that I love things with curry.  The turmeric in curry powder is an anti- inflammatory - which is good for all sorts of things!  I even put turmeric in my smoothies sometimes and even my porridge on occasion (you can hardly taste it).  

Enough about the wonder spice.  The original recipe is for 2 casseroles, I made one casserole with some changes.   This took less than 25 minute total prep (more like 20) and a half hour of cook time as you can do all of the steps concurrently (except the cooking part).  The original is here:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/curried-sweet-potato-shepherds-pie-ghk0308

CURRIED SWEET POTATO TURKEY SHEPHERDS PIE

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium (approx 2lbs total) sweet potatoes
1T veg oil
1 LB ground turkey

3T all purpose flour
1C chicken broth (alternately, use bouillon and water)
2t curry powder
1 small onion, chopped
2 large cloves of garlic minced
3/4lb carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large red pepper chopped
5 oz (about a generous cup) of frozen green peas

2T sour cream or plain yogurt

1T of fresh ginger grated (alternately, 1/2t of powdered ginger)
dash of milk
1T of margarine
salt to taste

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 375

POTATOES:
Prick the potatoes all over with fork or knife, cook in microwave for 12 minutes on high, rotating
halfway through.  set aside to cool

MEAT:
In a skillet over medium heat, place onion and garlic and oil, cook a few minutes until the onion 

Plated, with some steamed broccoli

smells good.  Add the turkey, swish it around the pan and break up with your spatula.  When cooked (all pink is gone) add the flour, some salt (about 1/4t), the curry powder, and the chicken broth. 

Turn the heat up to medium high until the mixture boils, turn down promptly to medium until it thickens - add a touch more water if the mixture is too thick.

VEG:
Meanwhile In another skillet place all of the veg, minus the onion and garlic with 1/4 C of water. 
Cook with a lid on for approx 10-12 minutes until the carrots are starting to get tender.  Drain the
water, add the ginger.  Stir around until incorporated.  Kill the heat and let them sit there til you're ready for them.

Potatoes - part 2:
Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh into a medium sized bowl - remember, they do need to
be cool enough to handle (but if you have callouses anything like mine.....).  Add a dash of salt,
the sour cream, 1T of butter/marg and the milk to the bowl with the potatoes, for a real SMOOTH
topping, I took out the electric hand mixer and went to town on these bad boys.  You can use a potato
masher for a chunkier more rustic effect.

Assembly:
Mix the veg and meat and place in a medium/large casserole dish (or you can layer them like the
recipe says).  Top with potatoes.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool for 10 before serving.  Serves 4
adults.

Verdict: 
DELICIOUS! Adam and I gobbled (ha ha, oh the turkey jokes) this up!! Although I have made this before
with the parsnips, and that element is missing a bit, but I did like the red pepper substitution for
sure.  The way I see it, anything 'curry' can usually go well with peppers or tomatoes.