Shepherd's Pie (Cowboy Pie)

Guess what I made tonight?!?!  

Well I guess the title gave away the name of the recipe, so the picture wasn't that enigmatic.

1 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, minced or 2-3 Tbl onion powder

1 (15 oz) can cut green beans

1 (10 3/4 oz) can tomato soup

3 cups mashed potatoes (5 large potatoes, 1 cube butter, 1/2 cup milk)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with onion.

Scrub, peel, dice, and boil potatoes until soft. Drain.  Mash with potato masher. Add butter and stir until melted.  Add milk and stir until creamy. (You can add a bit of garlic powder to these as well.)

Spread ground beef in bottom of 9x13 baking dish or a deep square casserole dish.

Drain can of green beans (I actually used two cans in this instance because I am fond of them) and layer on top of meat mixture.

 Spread tomato soup on top of bean layer.

 Dollop....

...and spread mashed potatoes on top of soup layer.

Cover potatoes with grated cheese.

 Bake at 275-350 degrees F for half an hour or until casserole is heated through and the cheese is melted well.

 Note: Cheese can be replaced with a sprinkling of paprika to cut the fat in this recipe.  Corn can be used in place of the green beans or in addition to them.

I made this tonight the way my mom used to make it (except with extra beans and maybe I embellished a bit with the potatoes), but I love corn and I think I'll make it with frozen (thawed) corn next time.