Southwest Shepherd's Pie

Every so often, I find that it becomes necessary to have a week at the grocery store where we only buy perishable food items and make our meals revolve around the huge supply of non-perishable food we have stocked in the cupboards and pantry. Without this occasional "cleansing ritual," if you will, we would never even make a dent in our stockpile of canned goods, mismatched pastas, and other staples that have collected and compiled over time.

More often than not, these attempts of mine to clear out some room in our cupboards end up in a pretty tasty dish of some sort (sometimes not-experimentation is bound to yield occasional failures), although they are usually so random that my beloved fiance and brother (both of whom have been previously mentioned throughout this blog) refer to them, lovingly of course, as sh*t casserole. Many a dishes have been endearingly termed this, and if Southwest Shepherd's Pie ends up in this category, it is by far the best sh*t casserole I have ever created.

This baked dish is layered with flavors of savory and sweet, with a very subtle spicy sensation, and is absolutely delicious. It will indubitably be a go-to dinner when we plan our weekly menus. It has been promoted past the point of mere cupboard cleaning to deserving its place in our regular dinner rotations.

Here is what you will need:

Southwest Shepherd's Pie (AKA Best Sh*t Casserole Ever)

- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/2 yellow or sweet onion, chopped
- 1 tsp. garlic paste
- 1 tbsp. EACH chili powder, paprika, and cumin
- 1 tsp. EACH season salt and black pepper
- 6 mini sweet peppers (I used two of each color- red, orange, and yellow, but any combination would be fine), chopped
- 1 10.5-oz can Rotel tomatoes UN-DRAINED
- 1 15-oz black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 7-oz can green chilies
- 1 15-oz can sweet corn, drained
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar -jack cheese mix
- 1 box of honey cornbread mix (plus all ingredients called for on box mix- I used and LOVED Krusteaz-brand)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic paste until beef is cooked through and no longer pink. Drain. Stir in all seasonings, chopped sweet peppers, Rotel tomatoes with juice, black beans, green chilies, and corn. Cook beef mixture for approximately 5-7 minutes, just long enough to slightly soften the peppers and let the flavors develop. Spread meat mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with cheese.
3. In a medium bowl, mix cornbread batter according to instructions on box. After batter has been mixed, spread evenly over the cooked beef mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until cornbread is cooked completely and a toothpick inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool for approximately five minutes before serving. If desired, top with fresh salsa and sour cream.

A beautifully layered dish that delivers a ton of flavor

We served this with a simple mixture of Romaine, crushed tortilla chips, and a dressing of fresh salsa and sour cream. It was such a perfect start to a delicious dinner, and all in all, this meal was incredibly well-balanced. 

Do you ever have nights where you just throw everything in the cupboard into a dish and cross your fingers and hope for the best? Sometimes, innovation brings about great things, and this one was definitely an example of that principle at work!