Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

As I was looking to eat up some produce and clean out the freezer this afternoon, I discovered I had all the essential ingredients to make a vegan chicken pot pie.  I hadn’t made one in a while, and I somehow forgot how much I loved them! I tend to think of pot-pie as a cold-weather comfort food,  and I’m still waiting for it to get colder here where I live… but as far as I’m concerned, there are no rules on good food – I’d eat this meal any time of the year!

I’m glad I made something new today because the last few days I have been cooking all my old favorites, most of which I have already posted on my blog.  This week we have had my fettuccine no-fredo, mac-n-cheeseless, and homemade veggie burgers (which is actually one I have not blogged yet).  Here’s some more of what we’ve been up to…

I cooked my first donut-holes in my Babycakes cake-pop maker and they turned out really fantastic 🙂  My kids couldn’t get enough of them (surprise, surprise)! I just veganized one of the recipes in the book that came with the machine. Boy was it nice to eat a little donut hole again that wasnt fried (though I have been meaning to make some “real” donuts soon).

These apple cider donuts with cinnamon sugar & powdered sugar were great!

This morning we made my buttermilk biscuits for breakfast and I tried something new by adding a round tofu “egg” (if you will) to make my own sort of “McVegan Biscuit” thing… It was really easy and was a nice change to try something new – I just cut my block of tofu down the side 2 times to make 3 skinny rectangles (about 1/4″ thick), then I used my biscuit cutter to cut 3 big circles out of the rectangles (1 of which I cut in half again to make 2 really thin circles for the kids), then I cut the rest in strips.  All I did to cook them was pan fry them in a teeny bit of olive oil and I added a splash of soy sauce while they were cooking.  I mean, it’s no egg, but it was good, esp on top of my little GimmeLean Soysage Patty 🙂

My McVegan Biscuit = soysage & tofu patties in a buttermilk biscuit! Next time I'm adding soy cheese!

Anyway, so back to the pot pie… this recipe was originally in the Vegan Planet cookbook (as the Winter Vegetable Pot Pie) although I changed their recipe quite a bit.  I may also suggest making the dough ball first, as I find it easier to roll out a crust when the dough is cold. In fact, I usually put my ingredients (flour and all) into the freezer to get really cold before making the crust.  It seems to make the dough easier to handle and tear less while rolling.

~Vegan Chicken Pot Pie~

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

• 2 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 long baby carrots (or 1 large carrot) chopped
•  1 bag of frozen veg (10 oz bag)
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable stock
• 2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 12 ounces of mock meat coarsely chopped (I used an entire bag of Gardein chicken scallopini + 1 more patty, though you could also use seitan or tofu)
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
•  1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chilled corn or canola oil
• 2 Tbsp ice water

1) First make the filling by cooking the potato & carrot in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside

2) In a small saucepan, bring the stock and tamari to a boil over med-high heat.  Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Simmer, stirring, until thickened 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

3) Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the onion to a lightly oiled 2-quart casserole dish.

4) Reheat the skillet and add the “meat”. Season with salt & pepper to taste and cook, stirring until browned, about 5 min. Transfer to the casserole dish.  Stir in the peas, potatoes/carrot mixture, and sauce and set aside.

5) Preheat the oven to 350 F.

6) Make the crust by combining the flour & salt in the food processor, pulsing to blend. Add the oil and process until the mixture is crumbly.  With the machine running, slowly add the water and process until the dough forms a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly larger than the casserole dish. Place the crust over the casserole and crimp the edges. I found that rolling the dough on parchment paper made it a breeze to flip the crust over right on top of the casserole. 

7) Bake until the filling is hot and bubbly and the crust is lightly browned, about 45-55 minutes.  Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Devour.

Perfect for my pot pie!

This is the "chicken" I used - it was great!

Here is the filling before adding the sauce...

... and after adding the sauce! Time to make the crust!

~ ~ ~ rolling out the crust ~ ~ ~

Hey! I'm ready for the oven now!

Here it is just out of the oven! Time to set the table!

The first piece always crumbles apart, but... who cares?!