Serves 8

Total time: 1 hour || Active time: 30 minutes

This is what nightmares are made of! If nightmares were totally delicious. A grizzly green ghoul with haunted olive eyes, gaping radish fangs and ferocious claws…of thyme? Vegan food hasn’t been this scary since the 80s!

But beneath all the horror, this is a Lentil Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie With Scallion Cilantro Mashed Potatoes. Unfortunately, there’s nothing scary about that. So to name this macabre creation, I turned to the Post Punk Kitchen Facebook and ran a contest to find the perfect title. There were so many good ones, but come on…Monster Mash? That took the cake. Or took the potato, as it were. The winner will be receiving a signed copy of Isa Does It plus $25 to her favorite charity!

A few runner-up titles: Creature From The Black Legume, Mr. Potato Dead, Ghoul Interrupted, and Frankenthyme! Haha, good work, guys. Check back on Facebook soon for another Halloween recipe and your chance to win.

But for now, here we are: the perfect Halloween feast! DIG IN AT YOUR OWN RISK. And check out this video for a little extra guidance. (Watch with the sound on for the full effect.)

Notes

~Hey, cilantro haters! You can totally replace that herb with some parsley or extra scallions, if you prefer.~For extra decadence, replace the almond milk in the potatoes with cashew cream. Yum! ~I used white pepper in the potatoes so that you wouldn’t be able to see it. But if you don’t have any, black pepper is totally fine. Maybe your ghouls have freckles?

Ingredients



3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 1/2 inch chunks or so

2 cups chopped scallions, green parts only

1 cup fresh cilantro, including stems

1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk (or your fave unsweetened non-dairy milk)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepperFor the lentil mushroom shepherd guts:

2 cups cold vegetable broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons tomato paste For the mashed potato ghouls:3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 1/2 inch chunks or so2 cups chopped scallions, green parts only1 cup fresh cilantro, including stems1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk (or your fave unsweetened non-dairy milk)1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil1 1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon white pepperFor the lentil mushroom shepherd guts:2 cups cold vegetable broth1 tablespoon cornstarch2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, medium dice

2 medium carrots, sliced into thin half moons

2 cloves garlic, minced 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

1 lb cremini mushroom, chopped (about pea sized pieces)

3 tablespoons fresh thyme

Fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon salt (plus more, to taste) 4 cups cooked lentils

1 cup frozen peas Accoutrement:

Pimento stuffed green olives

Radishes

Thyme sprigs

Directions