SWEET POTATO SHEPARD'S PIE

Did you ever see people doing some major traffic violation and think, where are the cops when you need 'em? Well today this big pickup pulls out right in front of this car that was about to turn into the street that the pickup was pulling out of. He never stopped at the stop sign, just barreled through the intersection. Well the guy that he pulled out in front of was a cop, an unmarked car. The lights went on and he pulled him right over. I was so excited. Am I the only person that gets totally jazzed about due punishment?

Now, for Sunday dinner. Yesterday, I was off to find something different. Usually I go surfing and pick a handful of recipes and then kind of make my own combination. Maybe an element from here and an element from there. This week I wanted to do a lightened Shepherds Pie. I think this combination worked pretty well.

SWEET POTATO SHEPARD'S PIE
a culmination of many recipes with some ideas of my own.

2 pounds lean beef (I used 90/10)
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 Asian eggplants, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, baked
1 banana
2 tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups cheddar (I used 2%, I gave it a try)
2 tablespoons flour

Begin to brown the beef. While the beef is starting to cook mash the sweet potatoes and banana and salt and mix together. If you don't like the banana idea, I use it to sweeten the mashed sweet potatoes, use a 1/2 cup brown sugar instead.

When the meat is nearly all browned, add the celery, carrots, steak seasoning, steak sauce and onions. Cook until they become tender crisp. Add mushrooms, eggplant and garlic. Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir and cook for five more minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a casserole dish. Stir in cheese. Spread sweet potato mixture over top.

Cover and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes. Place a baking sheet under the casserole dish just in case it boils over.

You could also pour it into two deep dish pie pans and freeze one. Using it for a quick meal down the road.