It might seem more mature to say that I made this for kids so they would find a veggie-filled meal fun, rather than just admit that this was my dinner last night.

So...um...yeah, it was totally the first thing...

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients
6 large potatoes
2 cups veggie crumbles*
2 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 cup broccoli - chopped
4 carrots - chopped
1 cup mushrooms - sliced
3/4 cup almond milk
3 oz spinach - chopped
1 small onion - diced
1 bulb garlic - roasted
3 Tbs flax seed - ground
3 Tbs vegan cream Cheese
1 Tbs vegan Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs Herbes de Provence
4 tsp salt
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
Black food coloring

*This is the only thing that keep s this from being a vegan recipe. I wanted to retain some similarity to the original. Feel free to replace with more veggies (or a vegan fake ground meat - and let me know what brand that is!)

Tools
Skillet
Pot to boil potatoes
Pie pan
Mixing bowls
Hand mixer
Garlic roaster
Measuring cups/spoons
Knife
Cutting board
Spatula
Cake decorator or Pastry bag
Pastry tip - Large star
Pastry tip - Medium circle

Step 2: Prep Work

Before you start chopping, get your garlic roasted and veggie broth prepared.

There are already two great Instructables that have these covered:

Roast garlic:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Roasted-garlic/

Broth:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Vegetable-StockBullion/

Step 3: Mashed Potatoes

To prepare the potatoes

Peel, boil and drain potatoes
Mash with a hand mixer
Add almond milk and Tofutti cream cheese and blend
Mix in the vegan Parmesan, 1 tsp salt and all the roasted garlic (perhaps less if that is not how you roll)

Food coloring

Put about half a cup of mashed potato in a separate dish and stir in black food coloring.
Add slowly and only use as much as you need. The color may run into the white potatoes during baking, so using the least amount to get the effect you want will minimize this.

Crust

Using a spatula, spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes along the bottom and sides of the pie pan.

Step 4: Chop and Saute Veggies

Prepare pie filling

Chop onion, set aside
Chop rest of veggies into vaguely even pieces
Add olive oil to a skillet and saute onions until translucent
Add all veggies except spinach
Add red wine vinegar
Pour in broth
Add flax seed, mustard, cumin, Herbes de Provence, 1 Tbs salt and 1 tsp pepper
Let cook until just until colors brighten up (3 - 5 minutes or so)
Drop in spinach and veggie crumbles - Let cook until the spinach wilts (2 more minutes)

Step 5: Assemble

Almost there!

Pour all veggies into the pie crust.

Now, if for some reason you don't want an adorable pie, you can simply top with the remaining mashed potatoes and bake. Otherwise...

Fill a decorator thingy or pastry bag with mashed potatoes
Using a large star tip, begin outlining the body with stars
Fill in the circle, leaving the area for the head empty, except for the eyes
Switch to the dyed potato and a circle pastry tip to fill in the rest of the face, eyes and feet.

Bake at 350^oC until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.