LATKES ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Zucchini adds a nice twist to Hanukkah’s traditional potato latke — plus easy brisket.

The weather is getting colder, and we’re tucking into comfort food in our home. Doing a recipe makeover on a tasty-but-less-than-healthful dish is one of my favorite challenges.

Today, I’m taking on a wintertime classic with my Lightened Shepherd’s Pie. Typically, shepherd’s pie is made from fatty and filling lamb, which is turned into a flavorful slow-cooked heady stew and topped with creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes, made lush by nice-sized helpings of butter and heavy cream. The resulting marriage is divine. How close could I get to the original while making some healthful ingredient swaps? The answer is: pretty close.

The changes were actually pretty simple, and the resulting recipe stayed quick enough to make this easily a weeknight meal. I cooked the filling in a large oven-safe skillet, so rather than bother with transferring the filling to a new baking dish, I just topped it and baked it right there in the sauté pan, saving on cleanup time, too. Frozen veggies also saved both prep time and money.

The biggest recipe change: I swapped out potatoes and used cauliflower purée instead. I simmered frozen cauliflower and fresh garlic in broth (for flavor) until tender and then blended it up into a purée with just a touch of cream cheese instead of butter and cream. The cream cheese added a marvelous silky texture and a hint of pleasantly tangy cheesiness to the topping, so just a little bit of shredded cheese melted on top of the pie felt cheesier than it actually was.

I also tweaked the filling, relying on a bunch of vegetables more than meat for heft and flavor. Onions, finely chopped mushrooms, peas, carrots and spinach all added enough complexity and texture, so that 1 pound of ground meat easily stretched to eight servings. Instead of traditional lamb, I used lean ground beef, but given how little meat each serving has, I might be persuaded occasionally to use lamb, and why not — a dark ale for extra wintery comfort since the recipe manages to have a ton of flavor even with only one cup of beer in it.

Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook, “Supermarket Healthy.”